^Library of Congress .™ 

I Q .S44 

& Shelf AW_!_J_7 1 

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fe^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.^ g| 



THE 



HOLY WORD 



IN ITS OWN DEFENCE: 



ADDRESSED TO 



BISHOP COLENSO 



ALL OTHER EARNEST SEEKERS AFTER TRUTH. 



/ 



REV. ABIEL SILVER, 

OF NEW YORK, 

AUTHOR OF "LECTURES ON THE SYMBOLIC CHARACTER OF THE 

SACRED SCRIPTURES." 



" Then opened He their understandings that they might understand the Scrip- 
tures."— Luke xxiv, 45. 
" The entrance of Thy Word giveth light."— Psalm cxix, 130. 



NEW YORK : 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 



3</( 



443 & 445 BEOADWAY. 

LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN. 

1863. 

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c^ 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 

ABIEL SILVER, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 

Southern District of New York. 



2^*3 6 3 n 



PEEFACE 



Kegaeding the Sacred Scriptures as the Holy "Word 
of the Great Jehovah, and believing that the Words 
which God speaks unto us, " they are Spirit and they are 
Life" to human souls, given for their regeneration and sal- 
vation ; and that they are the Foundation and Embodi- 
ment of all true Laws and Rules of Life, for the establish- 
ment and preservation of order, peace, and happiness, in 
heaven and on earth; that they were dictated to the 
writers by Infinite "Wisdom, and designed to be under- 
stood, loved and practised by men, and are therefore free 
from all contradictions and discrepancies, and expressed 
in the best possible form for meeting the vast variety of 
wants, states, and conditions of human beings, for all time 
and for eternity ; religiously believing this, we feel it to 
be the highest privilege and duty of man to acknowledge 
them, revere them, study them, love them, and obey 
them ; to defend and sustain them, under every circum- 
stance or event, whereby the opinions or writings of men 
may tend to throw doubts into the public mind, as to 



4: PREFACE. 

their entire truthfulness and perspicuity when their real 
meaning is seen ; and to ever strive, as we value the sal- 
vation of men, to bring before the world their pure and 
heavenly light, until every doubt of their Divine Excel- 
lence and Perfection shall pass away before the increasing 
glory of that Spiritual Light which gradually reveals, to 
the opening intellect and obedient heart, their perfect 
symmetry and beauty ; that thereby, the promised day 
may be hastened, when the " Watchmen shall see eye to 
eye," and when " there shall be no more saying, every 
man to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord ; for all shall 
know Him from the least unto the greatest." 

Under these settled views and convictions, * we read 
the work entitled, " The Pentateuch and Book of 
Joshua, Critically Examined, by the Right Rev. John 
William Colenso, D.D., Bishop of Natal. New York: 
D. Appleton & Co., 1863 ; " and we rose from the peru- 
sal, laden with the impression that we should offer to the 
public what we have written in this Book. Not, how- 
ever, as an answer, in detail, to all the particular objec- 
tions of the Bishop, but a General Answer, covering all 
the ground, not only of " Part First," but also of " Part 
Second," of the work above mentioned, and, indeed, of 
all other works which such objectors may publish. But 
though we cover the entire ground, yet it will be readily 
seen, that a work of this size can be but a mere opening 
of the Great Subject of all subjects, with such references, 
illustrations of Scripture, and arguments, based upon 
First and Eternal Principles, as are self-evident and irre- 



PREFACE. 



futable, and which we hope may throw such light upon 
the subject, from the Holy Word, and the Works of God, 
as may arrest the progress of Infidelity, by turning the 
thoughts of many, through the Analogy of the Divine 
Language, into a spiritually rational, religious channel ; 
and which may also serve as a suggestion to abler pens, 
to improve the present opportunity to give, to inquiring 
minds, the rational and illuminating views of God and 
His Word, and of the Way of Life, which the wants of 
the present age of commotion so much demand, and 
which the merciful Lord, by the Spiritual Light of the 
Word, has so amply provided. 

In this work we lay no claim to originality, either in 
the harmony of the System, the Doctrines we present, or 
in the Science of Correspondences. The diction and 
manner of treating the subject, only are ours. All the 
principles and views rest in, and can be rationally sus- 
tained by, the Word and Works of the Most High God. 
Our entire argument, therefore, is, Thus saith God's 
Word, and, Thus say God '«§ Works. 

We have confined ourselves chiefly to God's Word 
and Works, without note or comment upon the views of 
others. This is because there is no other source of knowl- 
edge, and because to this Court we must finally appeal to 
determine the truth or falsity of an/thing contained in 
the countless volumes which have been written noon the 
Holy Word. And our desire and aim have been to defend 
the Sacred Scriptures, or rather to let them defend them- 
selves, against the skeptical influence which the objections 



D PREFACE. 

that Dr. Colenso and his Reviewers are raising to the 
literal narrative, and then leaving it in the dark, may- 
have upon the pnblic mind. This we have hoped to do 
by showing that the contradictions and discrepancies 
which appear upon the surface of the letter of the Word, 
are not errors which have crept into the work through any 
carelessness, ignorance, or unfaithfulness of the hands 
through which It has passed j but that He who gave us 
the Holy Word, made it, in the original tongues, perfect, 
and has carefully preserved it; and that, when under- 
stood, it will be found to be free from all errors. 

It is not a matter of surprise, that Dr. Colenso, in his 
sincere searching of the Scriptures and desire for the 
truth, for the salvation of the souls of men, should, in the 
honest convictions of his heart, be troubled at the 
obstacles which appear in the way of their truthfulness. 
And we respect his noble frankness in declaring to the 
world his convictions, while he still retains a profound 
reverence for the Book. Standing where the Doctor 
does, and looking with the eyes with which he sees, he is 
right in his conlusions that the " Mosaic narrative . . . 
cannot be regarded as historically true" so far as regards 
all the natural events mentioned. But we hope to con- 
vince the sincere and faithful reader of the following 
pages, and from the Word itself, that It is a true history 
of mental things, or of the creation and actions of minds ; 
that there is, running through the entire Word, a history 
of higher things than those of time and matter, describing 
the thoughts and feelings of the souls of men and the con- 



PEEFACE. 7 

sequences of their character under all states and circum- 
stances, whether in this world or the next ; and also 
revealing to us a knowledge of our God, of our souls, and 
of our duty ; and that, in order to give to man this knowl- 
edge of spiritual things, natural things are used as sym- 
bols ; and that thus it is that we may rationally look 
through nature up to nature's God, and know that the 
" Invisible things of Him from the creation of the world 
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
made, even His eternal power and Godhead." (Rotn. i, 
20.) JSTot that there is not generally a true, literal sense in 
the Word, by the influence of which many souls are saved. 
But notwithstanding we have, in most of the Divine 
Word, an account of things which have taken place in 
this natural world, and the plain commandments given 
which all may understand, yet there is given, at the same 
time, a correct narrative of Spiritual or mental things, 
which may be seen and understood, by the sure law of 
Analogy which shows the relation between natural and 
spiritual things, revealing a Spiritual Sense within the 
literal. And our only hope of use, in preparing this work 
is, that Light from the Holy Word Itself, showing Its 
Symbolic Character, may tend to sustain Its Divine 
Authenticity, and elevate It in the public estimation ; 
and, at least, to convince some wayward and doubting 
souls of the true Nature and Character of God and His 
Word, and thus to bring them to the Divine Fountain, 
that they may drink of Its Spirit and Its Life, and be 
saved. For if there are any things of more importance 



O PREFACE. 

than others for man to know and to lay to heart, they are 
a true knowledge of his God, of himself, and of his duties 
and destiny as revealed in God's Word, " Forever, O 
Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven. The entrance of 
Thy Words giveth Light ; it giveth understanding unto 
the simple." (Ps. cxix, 89, 130.) 



CONTENTS. 



-*♦* 

PAGE 



Peeface, . . , m 3 

Ohap. I. — Inteoduction, 11 

II. — Substance, Form and Quality of the Divine Being, . 21 
; III. — Nature of Man, and the Origin of Evil, . . .34 
IV. — Action and Eeaction : Good and its Eewards : Evil 

and its Consequences, . . . . 48 

V.— The Divine Influx, . . .-■-'. . . .58 

VI. — God and Creation ; or, Cause and Effect, . . 66 
VII. — The Science of Correspondences the Key to the 

Human Mind, . . . . . . 75 

VIII. — The Necessity of a Diviue Eevelation, ... 87 

IX. — The Eeal and the Apparent, 99 

X.^The Spiritual and the Natural Senses of the Word : 
The Spiritual and the Natural Mind of Man : 
The Advents of the Lord into the Human Mind, . 109 

XI.— The Universal Language, 121 

XII. — The Microcosm and the Macrocosm, . . . 130 
XIII. — The Correspondence of Numbers, .... 151 
XIV. — Heat and Light : Love and Wisdom, . . .173 

XV.— New Bottles for new Wine, • 184 

XVI.— The Correspondence of Salt, and of Lot's Wife, . 196 



10 CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



XVII. — A Word to Biblical Skeptics ; from the case of Jonah 

swallowed by a great fish, 205 

XVIII. — The Lost and the Found ; the Science of Correspond- 
ences lost at the building of the Tower of Babel ; 
found in loosing the Seven Seals, . . . 219 
XIX. — The Books of the Bible, with or without the Spiritual 

Sense, 233 

XX.— The Church, 240 

XXI.— Heaven and Hell, 281 

XXII.— The New Birth, 293 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



God has given His "Word to Man to teach him, — First, 
what God is : Second, what Man is : Third, how Man 
loses God's image and becomes a devil : Fourth, how he 
obtains that image and becomes an angel ; and, Fifth, 
the consequences of being either an anggl or a devil. 
Every sentence of the Holy Word involves something of 
these things. 

As words are signs of ideas, so they point in the Word 
to two kinds of ideas, — natural and spiritual. Natural 
ideas relate to things of the body, and of this world : spir- 
itual ideas, to things of the mind, and of the spiritual 
world. We must have some natural thing, that we know 
something about, as a symbol of the quality of a certain 
principle of the mind, and through which we can look, by 
correspondence, or we cannot entertain the true spiritual 
idea of that mental principle. We are living here in a 
world of externals, with all internal things discreetly 
above the natural senses and all natural thoughts. Every 
spiritual idea must be embraced through a natural 
thought, by analogy. Every spiritual idea must have a 
natural idea as a body through which it may be seen. 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Now, the words of the Lord are used to express both 
natural and spiritual ideas. But men generally see in 
them only the natural ideas. All natural things may, by 
correspondence, be called words of God, whether spoken 
by the mouth or not ; whether named in a book, or seen 
in the fields of nature. All things of nature speak ; and 
they speak both natural and spiritual things. The natu- 
ral ideas are often seen by men, the spiritual but seldom. 
A beautiful landscape suggests thousands of thoughts 
upon natural qualities. But the spiritual ideas are not 
seen, without some knowledge of the analogy between 
the quality and use of the natural things, and the life 
which infills them ; and also of the relation between that 
life and the human mind. For the forms, qualities, and 
uses of natural things, always express, by analogy, spirit- 
ual principles, or qualities of the human mind. It is for 
this express purpose, that the things of nature are so 
much made use of in the Holy Word. 

But the analogy stops not here, but reaches into arti- 
ficial things. Everything of art or labor suggests the natu- 
ral ideas of the mind that formed it. And, if it be an 
artificial work, directed by the Lord, and recorded^n His 
Word, like the Ark of the Covenant or like the Temple, 
it suggests spiritual ideas through natural ideas. Thus 
everything a man does is expressive of the thoughts and 
feelings which bring it forth ; and, when recorded in the 
Holy Word, it denotes spiritual ideas and principles. 
Therefore, all histories recorded in the Holy Word con- 
tain, within them, histories of things which take place in 
human minds. 

In every part of the Holy Word, there must be a spir- 
itual signification. And mankind ought to know this 
from the plain literal teachings of the Lord. For He 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

expressly says He speaks to them in parables : and that, 
" Without a parable spake He not nnto them." By this 
we learn that the plain literal events, recorded in the 
"Word, even where they occurred precisely as stated, are 
all parables ; that is, they all contain a hidden meaning 
higher than the literal sense. 

Now, a literal event of which we read in the Word, 
may have occurred as recorded, or it may not. It is a 
parable in either case ; and conveys true spiritual instruc- 
tion by correspondence. And so a command may be in- 
tended to be obeyed naturally, or it may not. If it sim- 
ply says, " Thou shalt not kill, steal, or lie," the literal 
sense is, Thou shalt not do it in outward act of the body. 
But the spiritual sense is, that thou shalt not do it in will, 
intention, thought, or desire. And both of these senses 
should be understood and obeyed. 

So, when the Lord says that unless we eat His flesh 
and drink His blood we have no life in us, there are also 
two senses ; but both of these senses cannot be obeyed. 
This scripture only teaches that we must appropriate to 
our souls the goods and truths of the Word, to which the 
flesh and blood correspond. The words ' flesh and blood ' 
give the natural ideas, through which we reach the spir- 
itual. We can have no idea or thought of goodness and 
truth as abstract principles, until, by correspondence, we 
can see them as real spiritual substances that can be ap- 
propriated to our souls. 

Thus, all Holy Scripture is applicable to human life, 
and is profitable for doctrine and instruction in righteous- 
ness. And, when we come to parts of the Word, which 
seem to us to present no practical instruction, and are 
mysterious, we should set it down, as a matter of course, 
that its essential meaning and use to us are in the internal 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

sense. And, in looking for the spiritual sense, we must 
always look into the human mind. "We must not lose 
sight of the fact, that the spiritual sense of the Word is 
mental — completely and in toto mental. And that, in 
looking through the literal sense, we look into the world 
of mind. Then, when we come to a passage of Scripture 
from the letter of which we cannot draw any instruction 
of practical use, we must remember that the Almighty 
God has spoken it : and though the literal sense, which is 
in man's language, appear unimportant, yet the spiritual 
sense, which is in God's language, must contain matter 
of the highest importance and benefit to man. 

Then let us approach its illustration with that rever- 
ence due to the "Word of the Most High God, feeling that 
it is addressed to each of us individually ; and that, to 
find its highest use to us, we must look through the letter 
into our own minds ; remembering that every circum- 
stance or thing mentioned in the Word corresponds to 
some principle or movement in the human soul, or in 
God. For we see no possibility of any person's having 
true ideas of the Lord, either in this world or the other, 
but from the Holy Word. We regard the Word of God 
as the only true medium between our Heavenly Father 
and man, whereby we can know the Lord, because He is 
the Word. It is therefore the only light by which the 
understanding can form any correct thoughts of Him. 
For the Word of God is the Light and Life of heaven ; 
therefore, without it the angels could neither see nor 
speak. And while God is the very Life of the natural 
universe, and all things, more or less, speak His Word 
either in direct or in inverted accents, yet it is seen there 
only in appearances, and fallen man could never know 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

his God without a revealed, written, or spoken Word, 
from the Lord Himself. 

But it is asked if angels cannot teach man divine 
truths. Good angels must know the Word, and must use 
their efforts to infuse the spirit of that Word into man, by 
inclining him to open his heart to the Lord, and His 
Word, for that Spirit. But they surely would not under- 
take to teach man divine things, except from the Word. 
For they must know well their own weakness, and their 
entire dependence upon that Word for all true thoughts 
and right feelings. Therefore, could we now meet them 
.face to face, and ask them for divine wisdom and instruc- 
tion, they would doubtless direct us to the written Word, 
and to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ therein given. 
For they would of course say, as did father Abraham to 
the spirit of the rich man who wanted a messenger sent 
back to this world to warn his brethren to prepare for 
heaven, " They have Moses and the prophets ; let them 
hear them." And it is a solemn truth, that if men hear 
not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be per- 
suaded, though one should rise from the dead. The rea- 
son is, the Holy Word is a nearer and better medium of 
life to man than any angel can possibly be. For it is 
infinite in varieties, and is adapted to every possible state 
and condition of man, either in this world or the other. 
Its Spirit and Life are infinite, rational, affectionate, and 
powerful, knowing and feeling for the wants of all, and 
how best to reach them. Through the Word, the Lord 
has an immediate connection with men, much stronger 
than He can have through angels. For, as the Lord's 
words are spirit and life, so, when men drink them into 
their souls from that Fountain, the truths come more 
pure and refreshing than through any human mediums. 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

"Now, without truth from the "Word, men cannot, in 
any way, converse with each other rationally about the 
Lord, nor express any proper thoughts or ideas concern- 
ing Him. And, at this age, it requires the spiritual 
truths of the Word to remove the clouds, which the tra- 
ditions of men have thrown around the plain literal 
sense. This spiritual truth opens the Prophecies, so that 
we can look under standingly back, and see the true pro- 
cess of their fulfilment. And, by the Law of Analogy, we 
can also look forward and behold something of the order 
in which they are to be spiritually fulfilled. The Lord 
has not yet come the first time, to those who receive not 
the literal truths of the gospel ; nor has He come the sec- 
ond time, to those who receive not the spiritual truths. 
And we cannot better introduce the reader to the confi- 
dence we feel in the spiritual sense of the Word, and to 
the high ground which the Word Itself will take, in Its 
Own defence,. in the following chapters, than by a quo- 
tation from our " Lectures on the Symbolic Character of 
the Sacred Scriptures," just published by D. Appleton 
& Co., New York. 

" All truths are eternal verities. They are ever and 
unchangeably the same. About them, when seen, men 
do not differ. It is about falsehoods, and where truths 
are not seen, that the intellectual world is contending. 

" The doctrines of the Word, when seen in the light 
of correspondence, become themselves the indisputable 
evidence of their own truth : for correspondence is a lan- 
guage. It may well be denominated the language ; for it 
is the sure language of Jehovah. It is, therefore, a living 
language. It is the only language that has spirit and 
life. It is a universal language : the language in which 
not only the Holy Word, but universal nature, with her 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

ten thousand tongues, is speaking to us. Does any one 
doubt the existence of such a language ? Let him learn 
to read it. ~No one who has ever learned it has any such 
doubts. Does he say no one ever has learned it 1 How 
does he know that ? Thousands of persons, entitled to 
respect, say they have studied it, and find it to be a most 
sure and certain language. Where, then, rests the weight 
of evidence ? "Who is the best judge of a book, he that 
has read it, or he that has not ? 

" By this science, the Sacred Scripture is convincingly 
proved to be the Word of the Infinite Jehovah. All its 
parts thereby blend into harmony. The darkest and 
most obscure passages are opened and explained, and the 
simplest portions are filled with profound wisdom. Every 
passage is, indeed, seen to be " Profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in right- 
eousness," according to the apostle's declaration. But, 
without this science, has any one found it to be so % If 
the Bible was given by God to man to teach him some- 
thing, was it not intended to be understood % Has God 
endowed man with reason, addressed him as a reasonable 
being, said to him, " Come now, and let us reason togeth- 
er," given him His Word as a rule of life, to show him 
what he must do and what he must not ; and, at the 
same time, interspersed throughout that Word thousands 
of things which he can never understand, and which are 
of no use to him ? Not so. Infinite Wisdom has not so 
indefinitely expressed Himself that He cannot be under- 
stood. 

" The difficulty is with man. He, by a false and evil 
life, has lost the pure Language of Analogy in which 
God speaks. But, by the Divine Mercy of the Lord, that 
language is again restored. That sublime Key to the in- 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

exhaustible Treasury of intellectual Wealth, contained in 
the Word and Works of- God, is now mercifully made 
known. The great Seminary of scientific wisdom has be- 
come accessible to man. For this divine Key not only 
unlocks God's Book of Revelation, but also, at the same 
time, His Book of Nature. And as we are thereby con- 
ducted within the veil of the letter of the Word, and per- 
mitted to feast upon the pure bread and water of life, and 
to admire the glory and beauty of that divine Sanctuary, 
so we have, also, a passport within the veil of universal 
Nature, where we find enthroned pure spiritual Philoso- 
phy, expounding the invisible relations which unite heav- 
en and earth ; elucidating those otherwise incomprehen- 
sible affinities which exist between life and matter, God 
and Nature, the mind and the brain, the soul and the 
body. In passing this veil we enter the School of all 
schools, look up to the Teacher of all teachers, and study 
the Science of all sciences. The books we read are the 
Books of all books — the book of Nature and the book of 
Revelation. They are both published by the same Au- 
thor illustrate the same principles, and lead to the same 
conclusions. Both books are necessary to the proper 
study of either. All the objects in nature are so many 
true indices, pointing to the history of their creation and 
the cause of their existence ; and referring us for informa- 
tion to the written Word, to which they are the Grand 
Concordance. At such a seminary, with such books, and 
such a Teacher, we may obtain heavenly wisdom and 
feast on angels' food. 

" But, it is asked, what is the strongest and most con- 
clusive evidence which we have to offer in proof of the 
truth and certainty of this new science ? We answer 
that no evidence can be sufficiently clear and full to sat- 



INTEODUCTION. 19 

isfy a mind that will not look at it, or that has no taste 
nor desire for things beyond the gift of this world. But, 
if even such a person were entirely unacquainted with 
the Chinese language, and should remove to China, and 
there learn to speak and write that language, so as to 
read their books and understand them, and should find 
that they contained a rational and consecutive chain 
of ideas and history of events, he would certainly be 
convinced that they had a language, and that he had 
learned it. It is precisely so with the language of 
analogy. It must be examined, and learned, and tested 
by reading analogical language before it can be under- 
stood. 

" Now, let that same man come to the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, and look at the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the 
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the tenth of Ezekiel, 
and the twenty-first of Kevelation, and he will be as much 
at a loss to know their true meaning, as he was that of 
the Chinese language, when he went to that country. 
But let him learn the language of analogy, until his heart 
is warmed by the spirit of the Holy Word, and he can 
see a beautiful and consistent course of useful instruction, 
pervading the entire chapters mentioned ; and, not only 
them, but also the whole Word, making it a new Book, 
most clear and instructive; and he will then be much 
more strongly convinced of the indisputable verity of this 
language, than he was, or could possibly be, of that of the 
Chinese. 

u Now, we can say to such persons, that many are the 
human minds, of different nations of the earth, who are 
becoming thus convinced. Will not God's Holy Word, 
then, yet become known, as it is, and be universally 
received, loved, and regarded ? Will it not become the 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

great law of the land, and restore universal ' Peace on 
earth and good will toward men ' ? It most surely will. 
That glorious shout of the angels, at the birth of our Lord, 
was not made in vain — ' Behold, I bring you good tidings 
of great joy, which shall be unto all people.' " 

Those who desire to investigate the doctrines of the 
Word and the science of correspondences presented in the 
following pages, may find the rationale of them, clearly 
and satisfactorily shown, in the voluminous works of 
Emanuel Swedenborg, referred to in chapter xviii of this 
book. But we have made no quotations from those 
works, desiring rather to reach the public mind with facts 
and arguments drawn exclusively from the Word and 
works of God ; to which the prejudices of men cannot rea- 
sonably object. 



CHAPTEE II. 

THE SUBSTANCE, FOEM, AND QUALITY OF THE DIVINE BEING. 



" In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God." — John i, 1. 



"What is the Word of God ? This is the great question 
before us. The answer to this question is the answer to 
all Dr. Oolenso's objections. 'Now, as the "Word is de- 
clared in the text to be God, and as the Lord declares that 
the "Words which He speaks to us, " they are spirit and 
they are life," and as " God is a Spirit " (John iv, M)\ the 
first question before us is, What is God ? Indeed, all true 
knowledge of Gocl, His Word, or His works, must take its 
rise in a true idea of God Himself. For, according to the 
ideas men have of the qualities and character of the God 
they revere and love and worship, must be the character 
of their religion, and of their views of the theology of the 
Holy Word. Therefore, if we would successfully study 
God's Word and Works, we must commence with the 
study of God. But here we are asked, " Who, by search- 
ing, can find out God ? " We are not to find Him out by 
our own wisdom. We are to humbly seek and receive 
Him as He has revealed Himself in His Word. There, we 



22 THE DIVINE BEING. 

are commanded to become like Him. This can be done 
only as we gain a knowledge and love of Him. 

E~ow, His entire "Word treats of Him. The Law and 
the Prophets constantly declare Him, and He is emphati- 
cally manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, " I 
and my Father are one." And the Word teaches that 
God is Infinite, Omniscient, and Omnipresent ; Unchange- 
able and Eternal ; the Creator and Sustainer of the uni- 
verse. And the question at once arises, Can a finite mind 
have a rational thought of snch a Being ? We answer, 
Yes. Not an Infinite thought, but a rational one, in its 
degree. Now the first approach toward a real thought 
of God is an idea of spiritual substance, which is mental, 
and entirely discrete and distinct from matter, and which 
cannot be reached by the senses of the natural body. If 
we do not entertain this idea of spiritual substance, we 
have no distinct thought of anything above gross matter ; 
therefore no distinct thought of God, angel, spirit, or even 
of man ; for the material body is not the man, but the 
tabernacle of clay in which he lives. 

Having an idea of spiritual substance, the next step 
toward a true idea of the Lord is a proper thought of the 
quality of His substance ; for we may know that we can 
have no real knowledge of anything but by its qualities. 
"We have now before us an infinite, almighty, spiritual 
substance. "What are its qualities ? The Holy Word tells 
us that the Lord is Life, Love, Wisdom, Goodness, Truth, 
Righteousness ; that He is Our Righteousness ; that He 
giveth life, wisdom, goodness, truth, and righteousness to 
the people. 

Having proceeded thus far, are we not now ready to 
define Him, from His own testimony, to be Substantial 
and Almighty Love and Wisdom, or Goodness and 



THE DIVINE BEING. 23 

Truth? "What other, so high, ideas of excellence can 
'enter the human mind? The thought can grasp at 
nothing else so high as Infinite and Almighty Goodness 
and Truth. But we are now asked if these are not mere 
attributes of a great Being and entirely passive in them- 
selves, operating only when exercised by the will and un- 
derstanding of that great Being ? But why ask this ques- 
tion now ? Has the interrogator so soon lost sight of 
mental substance ? Let us ask him what other substance 
than Goodness and Truth can constitute the great Jeho- 
vah ? "Will he bring it forward within the reach of our 
thoughts? "What other substance can be omnipresent? 
Goodness and Truth are not passive or dead principles. 
The life of Goodness is Love, and the life of Truth is 
Wisdom. Love and Wisdom are Goodness and Truth in 
action. What can give forth more Love than Infinite 
Goodness, or more Wisdom than Infinite Truth ? What 
human mind without goodness has any genuine love, or 
•without truth has any real wisdom ? And where does he 
get these things ? What else could God give to our wills 
that would make us so merciful and happy as would His 
goodness ; or to our understandings that would make us 
so honest and just as would His truth ? 

But here we are told that, when the Lord regenerates 
a man, He makes him a good and true man, and that then 
He will be merciful and just. But does not the Lord, in 
this work, take away from him something evil and false, 
and give him something good and true? Is it man's 
own righteousness or the Lord's that dwells in him, that 
is kind and just, and does the good works ? It is a 
mistaken philosophy which would teach that all the 
elements of the man are innate in the infant, and that 
all that is necessary is properly to call out and develop 



24: THE DIVINE BEING. 

those principles. For, if so, why is one developed a mer- 
ciful man and another a murderer, both springing from the' 
same Divine Source ? Man's mind is developed by what 
he appropriates of the goods and truths, or evils and falsi- 
ties which are oifered it. As well might the natural body 
of an infant be developed without natural food, as the 
mind without spiritual food. Therefore, the Lord says, 
" Behold, I stand at the door, and knock : if any man 
hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, 
and will sup with him, and he with Me." (Kev. iii, 20.) 
What is this reciprocal supping but the receiving of good- 
ness and truth from the Lord, and returning them to Him 
in love and obedience ? What other divine food is there 
for them to use ? The Lord says, Me will come in and sup 
with them. Does not some substance come in ? It may 
be replied that it is His Spirit. Very well. Is not His 
Spirit something substantial and powerful? The Lord 
says, He is Life ; and that He giveth life to the world. 
Now, if this life is not substance, He does not give the* 
world anything. For no substance is nothing. Here, 
then, we have a substantial Heavenly Father, with quali- 
ties we can think of and love, and Who feeds our souls 
with His goodness and truth. 

And as He has substance, so also He must have form. 
But, what can be the form of that Substance which is 
Infinite and Omnipresent % Of this, no finite mind can 
fully conceive ; for Infinity is not limited by time or space. 
And an idea of form without an idea of boundary is above 
the reach of our natural thought. And yet we see that, 
in order to bring the reality of the Mighty God rationally 
within the sphere of human thought, He must be pre- 
sented to the understanding in a form. For no form is 
no substance, which is equivalent to no God. And 



THE DIVINE BEING. 25 

though the form, as presented to man's finite mind, must 
necessarily be finite, and thus not full, yet we have reason 
to believe that the Lord has so adapted His Word to our 
capacities as to give us, in a degree, a true, though faint 
and limited idea of the Divine Form. Now, God is rep- 
resented in the Word as having the organs of the human 
body, and man is said to be created in His image. And, 
inasmuch as " God [in His love, wisdom, and power] was 
manifest in the flesh ; " and it is written that the Lord, 
" being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be 
equal with God " (Phil, ii, 6), we may rationally con- 
clude that, in looking at the form of God as human, we 
are, to say the least, looking toward the Great Infinite 
Form ; and that thus, having before the thoughts a great 
and glorious Human Form, with His face shining as the 
Sun, and His raiment white as the light, we have the best 
idea the finite mind can have of the Infinite Form of the 
Lord. Indeed, what other form than human could we 
give Him ? it being the most perfect form that has entered 
our thoughts. We have now before us a distinct idea of 
God, suited to our states and capacities. We can think 
of Him as a Heavenly Father in substantial form, In- 
finitely good and true, whom we can love and worship as 
the Author of every blessing. 

We have thus found the Word which was in the be- 
ginning with God"' and which was God. This Word is 
the Truth, for God speaks nothing else. It was " in the 
beginning with God," for God is Goodness, and Goodness 
speaks It. It " was God," because It was His Wisdom. 
This Word is the great Source of all "being, because " All 
things were made by Him, and without Him was not 
anything made that was made." This Word is the 
Divine Wisdom, because " God, by Wisdom, made the 



26 THE DIVINE BEING. 

world." This Word contains the Divine Love, because 
" In Him was Life," and Love is Life. This " Life was 
the Light of men," because Light is Truth, and Love or 
Life speaks it. This Word was the Lord, because " the 
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among " men, and they 
" beheld his glory." This Word had Divine Powers, 
because, " as many as believed on Him, to them gave 
He power to become the sons of God." He is " the only 
Wise God our Saviour," because He has " all power in 
heaven and on earth," is the " Alpha and the Omega, the 
Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last." In 
Him was the Father, because He says, " The Father that 
is within Me, He doeth the works." The Father — the 
Love Element — is the spring of action, and the Truth 
or Word executes — " God, by Wisdom, made the world." 
This Father and Son, or Love and the Word, are insepara- 
bly one Being, because He says, " I and my Father are 
One." " He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father." 
" Why say est thou, Show us the Father? Believest thou 
not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me 1 " 
He possessed the Holy Spirit, because " He breathed 
upon His disciples and said, Eeceive ye the Holy 
Ghost." Well, then, could the Apostle say, " In Him 
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead Bodily." 

Here, then, we have the Triune God — the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit — presented in the Love, Wisdom, and 
Power of the Lord. A regenerated man is in His image 
and likeness, and is a recipient of the three Elements. 
They constitute the Living Influx from the Divine Mind 
intQ the human, without which we could have no true 
thoughts, good feelings, or right actions. To study the 
Holy Word and understand its elements and doctrines, 
we must never lose sight of the Trine of First Principles. 



THE DIVINE BEING. 27 

It is only in this one grand "idea that we can have a ra- 
tional thought of God. And we should bear in mind that 
we can have no distinct idea of anything, unless that idea 
contains a true thought of its qualities. And the qualities 
of the Divine Trinity of First Principles — Love, Wisdom, 
and Power, or Goodness, Truth, and Force — are the 
standard by which we are to test the relative quality of 
every spiritual thing, of every variety of feelings, 
thoughts, and actions. Indeed, we see nothing spiritually 
and clearly right, unless our thought reaches to God's 
qualities, and rests in a rational view of His Nature and 
Character. And in preparing the mind for the Spiritual 
sense of the "Word, we cannot dwell too much upon this 
point, nor become too firmly settled in this divine idea of 
the Oneness of this Trine. We need to see that the 
Elements are one Substance and inseparable, though 
perfectly distinct ; that, without the Father, or Love Prin- 
ciple, God would have no feelings ; without the Son, or 
Truth Principle, He would have no Knowledge ; and 
without the Holy Spirit, or Force Principle, He would 
have no power. They are as essential to each other as 
are the will, the understanding, and the energy of the 
mind. And their distinct Trinity in Unity is well sym- 
bolized in the burning lamp ; the heat denoting the 
Father ; the light, the Son ; and the burning, the Holy 
Spirit. Take away the heat, and the light and burning 
cease ; take away the light, and the heat and burning 
cease; take away the burning, and the heat and light 
cease. Thus, each Element in the Trine is necessary to 
the existence of the other two. And had we a lamp too 
bright and intense for our eyes, so that we could bear 
neither its heat, its light, nor its force ; and should a 
ground glass be put around it, adapting its rays to our 



28 THE DIVINE BEING. 

vision, that glass would faintly symbolize the assumed 
nature, bringing the Lord down into our sphere of life, 
and thus adapting His Goodness, His Truth, and His 
Spirit to our states and wants. Here, then, we have One 
Infinite, Divine Being, with one Will, one Understanding, 
and one Energy. Thus " the Lord our God is one Lord." 
And well may the first law of God to man be, " Thou 
shalt have no other gods before Me." And when we 
rationally see that one Infinite Mind is All ; that It wills 
all that Infinite Love can will, knows all that Infinite 
"Wisdom can know, and does all that Infinite Power can 
do, and that nothing can be added to this Infinite Mind ; 
that this One Mind is spiritual Substance, possessing 
three distinct Essentials, one of which is Infinite Good- 
ness, making God infinitely Merciful ; that another Essen- 
tial is Infinite Truth, making Him Infinitely Wise and 
Just, and that the other is Infinite Power, making Him 
Almighty ; and that this Love constitutes the Will, this 
Wisdom, the Understanding, and this Power, the Force of 
God ; that this Love embraces every possible variety of 
goodness, mercy, affection, and indeed every shade of 
principle belonging to the department of the Will, 
enabling Him to reach every state of the human heart ; 
and that this Divine Wisdom constitutes every variety of 
the Element of Truth, Justice, Judgment, everything 
belonging to the department of the Understanding, thus 
enabling Him to reach every principle of human thought ; 
and that this Divine Power includes everything whatever 
belonging to God's Energy and Might, enabling Him to 
reach and control all the forces of the universe ; so that 
these three great Essentials — Love, Wisdom, and Power 
— embrace the whole vast Being of Jehovah Himself, and 
all His sphere of operations ; — I say when men see this, 



THE DIVINE BEING. 29 

they will behold the eternal Trinity of the " One Only 
Living and True God." And, what more can there be ? 
One fills all space; where could another be located? 
And here we find that the Jehovah of the Old Testament 
is the Lord Jesus Christ of the New Testament. In His 
Love we have the Father ; in His Wisdom, the Son ; and 
in His Power, the Holy Spirit. And we see most em- 
phatically the truth of the words of the Lord in Isaiah 
xliii, 11 : " I, even I, am Jehovah ; and beside Me there 
is no Saviour." " I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One 
of Israel, thy Saviour " (xliii, 3). " I am Jehovah, . . . 
and there is no God else beside Me ; a just God and a 
Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and 
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; for I am God, and 
there is none else." (Isa. xlv, 5, 21, 22.) " I am Jeho- 
vah thy God, . . . and thou shalt know no God but Me ; 
for there is no Saviour beside Me." (Hosea xiii, 4.) 
Now, this view of the Trinity rationally answers all that 
is said, in the "Word, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
We can see that the Love or Goodness Element is the 
Father of the thoughts and actions — the begetting prin- 
ciple ; we never act till we desire to. Thus the Word or 
Truth Element may be called the Son of God the Father ; 
for the Goodness of God can give birth to the Truth, just 
as a tender father speaks it for the instruction of his chil- 
dren. Thus the Word, or Truth, that was in the begin- 
ning with God and was Gocl, came a Light into the 
world, being spoken from the Lord's Love or the Father 
within. And the Holy Ghost is declared to be the 
" Spirit of Truth," the Power of God. Again, this same 
God is " He that appeared unto the prophets." But, 
what appeared ? Not the material body. Let the 
prophets themselves answer many times over. " The 



30 THE DIVINE BEING. 

Word of the Lord came unto me ; " and it came, " say- 
ing." What was this Word but God's Truth or Son? 
and, what spake it but Love or the Father ? Again, it is 
the Son of God that is declared to be " the Judge of all 
the earth ; " it is He that is coming to "judge the world," 
and yet the Lord Himself, as a person, says, " I judge no 
man," " my "Word judges you ; " and again it is written 
(John v, 22), " The Father judgeth no man, but hath com- 
mitted all judgment unto the Son ; " still, the Son says, 
" He that hath rejected me, and received not my Words, 
hath One that judgeth him ; the Word that I have 
spoken, the same shall judge him at the last day." (John 
xii, 48.) Now, we may all know that God Himself is the 
Judge. But God, being Love, must judge by His Word 
— His Truth — His Son ; and therefore His Son is called 
the Judge ; and thus it is that the " Father hath com- 
mitted all judgment unto the Son." 

Again, the Son is called the Mediator between man 
and the Father ; and this has been considered a sure evi- 
dence of two separate and distinct Beings. But when we 
look at the Father as Divine Goodness, we can readily see 
that His Word of Truth is the only Mediatorial Principle 
between us and that Goodness ; for in order to come to 
God the Father, we must become good, break off from sin 
by righteousness, and come up into a better state of heart. 
Now, nothing but the Truth, which the Father gives, can 
serve as a " Mediator to bring us to God." The Truth, 
directs the way. It is the Intermediate Principle be- 
tween Wickedness and Righteousness. Without the 
Truth we could have no idea of Goodness, nor could we 
know our evils. The truth is the Teacher, the School- 
master, the Mediator, to bring us to Goodness — our Heav- 
enly Father. 



THE DIVINE BEING. 31 

But the Son is also said to be the Intercessor with the 
Father ; and He is represented as standing at the right 
hand of God, and pleading with Him to have mercy npon 
sinful men. And the thought that the Son is at the right 
hand of the Father, making intercession for us, presents 
the strongest idea in the letter of Scripture indicative of 
two persons, because it seems to express two minds ; but 
as it nowhere says in the "Word that God consists of more 
persons than one, but, on the contrary, positively declares 
that He is but One / that the Lord our God is one Lord ; 
that Jehovah is the only Saviour and Eedeemer ; that the 
Father and the Son are one God, so that the Son with 
the " Father that dwelleth in ,# Him could say, " I am 
the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the 
First and the Last ; " and as sound reason and true philos- 
ophy, as well as Scripture, bear testimony to the truth 
of One Divine Mind, and to the impossibility of two In- 
finite "Wills, Understandings, and Powers, we must of 
course seek for the truth in some other view of the inter- 
cession of the Son at the right hand of the Father, than 
that of two persons or minds holding intercourse. And, 
by analogy, we shall find the true view very plain. For 
hands, when mentioned in the "Word, denote power. And 
as God the Father is the Love Element, and God the Son 
is the Truth Element, we readily see that the Son is 
really the Eight Hand of the Father, or the Power of 
Love. For Love can do nothing without "Wisdom, the 
Spirit of Truth being the Holy Ghost, the Power of God. 
Thus it is said that God's " Eight Hand and His Holy 
Arm hath gotten Him the victory." The Lord, as the 
"Word, is therefore the Eight Hand of the Father — the 
Power of God unto Salvation. 

"What, then, is the Intercession ? Spiritually viewed, 



32 . THE DIVINE BEING. 

it "is the same as Mediation. It is an intermediate act. 
Eow, it is man that is interceded with, man that is pro- 
pitiated or appeased, not the Unchangeable God. And 
Truth is the only principle that can act upon man's un- 
derstanding and will, and excite to nobler action. But 
the truth of this view of intercession may be seen in the 
popular idea of the intercession of the Son with the Fa- 
ther, if men will look at God the Father as the Love of 
God, and at God the Son as the Truth of God, and at 
God the Holy Ghost as the Power of God, and all in one 
person. For illustration : personify a man as God — his 
will or love as the Father, his understanding or truth as 
the Son, and his energy or power as the Holy Spirit. 
This man casts his eye upon the water, and he sees a boat 
capsize with a child. Now, it is the understanding — the 
truth or Son element of his mind — that sees the accident. 
But no sooner is it seen than the will — the Love, the 
Father element — is moved to compassion. Thus the Son 
intercedes with the Father, and the Father and the Son 
immediately rush to the rescue. This energy of the two 
Elements denotes the Holy Spirit. The Son Principle 
first sees the accident, because the understanding is more 
external than the will, or Truth than Love : Love is the 
centre, Truth the circumference. The Son Element of 
God is therefore between the Father and mankind, and is 
the Interceding or Mediatorial Principle. 

But while we are seeking a knowledge of the Divine 
Being in the quality of His Elements as taught in His 
Word, we should not lose sight of the fact that these Ele- 
ments are Divine Substance in Form, and that all Truths 
in the Complex are the Lord as the Word, who declares 
that He is the Truth, and that this Complex of all 



THE DIVINE BEING. 33 

Truths is in Infinite Human Form, and is the Divine 
Humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, being the Great 
Jehovah, in His merciful approach to mankind for their 
salvation. 



2* 






CHAPTEE III. 

THE NATUEE AND CHAEACTEE OF MAN, AND THE OEIGIN OF EVIL. 
" The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." — Gen. hi, 13. 

Having, in the preceding chapter, taken the first step 
toward preparing the mind for a proper examination and 
understanding of the Sacred Scriptures, by seeking a true 
view of the qualities of the Divine Author ; and having 
thereby, from His own "Word, and the use of the reason 
with which He has endowed us for this purpose, found a 
rational premise in the admission that all His principles 
and qualities, in their divine harmony, must be contained 
in the Infinite Love, "Wisdom, and Power of one Al- 
mighty, Substantial, and Unchangeable Being, who de- 
clares Himself to be Goodness and Truth, Spirit and 
Life ; and yet, as there are many things contained in the 
Bible which seem to be of a different character, making 
the Word appear inconsistent, mysterious, and contradic- 
tory, and therefore, as though these parts of it must have 
sprung from some other source ; representing even God 
Himself as sometimes angry, wrathful, and revengeful, 
and as unstable or repentant ; it therefore becomes neces- 
sary, in order to be well prepared to examine understand- 



NATURE OF MAN, AND OEIGIN OF EVIL. 35 

ingly into the true character and teachings of this Divine 
Book, that we next obtain a rational view of what those 
opposite principles and characters are, and whence they 
originated. And this investigation will lead to a true 
understanding of what man is, and what part he plays in 
the drama of life; what his depravity is, and how he 
received it. For, until these questions are rationally set- 
tled, there must, after all that has been said of the Lord, 
either be a cloud of darkness still overshadowing the 
beauty and loveliness of the Divine Character, or else a 
spirit of skepticism will be excited against the Truth and 
Divine Authenticity of the Scriptures. 

Now, in keeping the Great Divine Essentials or First 
Principles always before us, as the Starting Point and 
Grand Test, by which the character and quality of every- 
thing else are to be tried, and its origin known ; and in 
looking up to those Principles for Light, and resting 
upon them as the " Rock of Ages," God Himself be- 
comes, in our mind, the Teacher and Judge : and thus, 
not by our own wisdom, but in the Lord's, we may, in 
our present investigation, obtain true ideas of the nature 
and origin of evil, and of the elements and powers of 
man ; and thence of the reason why the Bible, in many 
places, appears so wonderfully strange and hard to be un- 
derstood. And having once obtained this desirable knowl- 
edge, the way will be fairly opened for a successful inves- 
tigation into the Spirit and Life of the Word, and for 
coming thereby to a true understanding of the Sacred 
Scriptures, and of the cause of their apparent Mysteries, 
Contradictions, and Discrepancies. 

Beginning then with the view we have taken of our 
Heavenly Father, as the Great First Cause, the Creator 
of all things, Infinitely Merciful and True, the question 



36 NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

which, has so much perplexed the religious world comes 
up at once fully before us, asking "boldly and peremp- 
torily, What and Whence are Evils and Falsities, Dis- 
cords and Contentions f And falling back upon the true 
qualities of God for answer, the decision is made at once 
and decisively that, whatever may have been their origin, 
such things cannot be the expressions of Goodness and 
Truth — that God does not give forth evils and falsities. 
But here an interrogator meets us with the Words of God, 
saying, " Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath 
not done it ? " (Amos iii, 6.) " I form the light, and cre- 
ate darkness : I make peace, and create evil : I the Lord 
do all these things." (Isa. xlv, 7.) To this we might an- 
swer that " A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit." 
(Luke vi, 43.) But to all such questions or objections to 
what we are saying in this chapter, as may arise in the 
mind of the reader, coming from the letter of the Word, 
we here simply remark that we are not now explaining 
the Word, but are trying, by the True Light of God's 
own Qualities, which Light is the Word, in its Spirit, to 
prepare our minds to understand the nature and charac- 
ter of the Divine language, so as to see the true meaning 
of ail such expressions of the Word, and of all its appar- 
ent contradictions. And we would further remark, that 
the letter of the Bible seems to give a great variety of 
characters to God, and some of them quite contradictory, 
though His true character beams out conspicuously 
through the whole, and that there is a good reason why 
the Word was so written, and that when we clearly un- 
derstand the object of this chapter — the origin of evil — 
we shall be better prepared to enter upon the investiga- 
tion of the Word in these peculiarities. Therefore, all 
inquiries after truth, in this chapter, will be answered by 



NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 3T 

reasoning in the light of First Principles ; and to such 
answers, properly made, no rational objection can be 
raised. Now, what we want clearly to understand is the 
difference between good and evil, truth and falsity, and 
their origin. Some have attributed all evil to a great 
diabolical power or being, standing up in opposition to 
the Lord. But whence has any creature power, but from 
God ? He has all power in heaven and on earth. But is 
God then changeable ; sometimes kind and sometimes 
unkind? He is Unchangeable Love, and His mercy 
endureth for ever. How, then, shall we solve the dark 
problem ? Is there no such thing as evil or wrong % 
Some have falsely said so ; but who can look around our 
world, and behold the murders, thefts, deceits, and crimes 
of every hue, and come to any such conclusions ? 

Yet many at this day, for the want of a true knowl- 
edge of the origin and nature of evil, are coolly declaring 
that evil is only a state of imperfection ; that, God alone 
being perfect, all other things are necessarily imperfect, 
because finite, and that from this imperfection is all evil ; 
but that God is constantly improving the creation, and 
will eventually do away with all evil and misery. But 
what are the grounds of this conclusion? Is Infinite 
Wisdom becoming wiser by experience % Is the sun 
more bright, the rainbow more beautiful, the diamond 
more brilliant now than formerly ? Does the bee make 
sweeter honey or more perfect cells ; or do the birds sing 
more sweetly % Eow, if the lower orders of things do not 
improve by age or generations, we cannot from thence 
conclude that man does. Let us then examine man him- 
self, and see if he is constantly making progress in good- 
ness. ¥e know that we are progressing in certain kinds 
of science and knowledge. But are we naturally, from 



38 NATUKE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

infancy to age, growing wiser, better, more honest, pure, 
and lovely ? All experience teaches to the contrary. If 
we look into onr hearts we know better. And if our 
natural propensities do not incline us upward, but down- 
ward, what becomes of the law of progress in moral ex- 
cellence? Strange progress upward that, of the man 
who commences life an innocent, confiding infant, passes 
through a less artless but sportive childhood, becomes a 
licentious and deceitful youth, an adulterous and revenge- 
ful man, and ends his career on a murderer's gallows. But, 
say the advocates of moral progress, this is all the fault 
of society, not of the man. He was all well enough, and 
would have come out all right under other circumstances. 
But what compose society but individuals ? And if they 
are all right, why is not society right also ? This taking 
the blame off from individuals and putting it on to society 
is strange reasoning. Besides, if individual members of 
society may go downward, so may society. 

There is no philosophy, however ingenious, that can 
rationally do away with the fall of man. The fact of 
man's degeneracy from the laws of order stands en- 
stamped upon the whole face and conduct of the race. 
Besides, Infinite Goodness and Truth cannot be charge- 
able with the evils, falsities, and miseries of mankind. 
For God would have all men to be saved ; " not willing 
that any should perish, but that all should come to re- 
pentance." He would have them saved now, saved al- 
ways, saved everywhere, from all sin and suffering. And 
He and His laws are in effort to do this always, to every- 
body. Evil, therefore, springs not from God nor from 
His laws. 

"Whence, then, is evil % It is from man. "What is 
evil ? It is a disposition to violate the laws of life, and it 



NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 39 

is also the sufferings consequent upon such, violation. 
There are two kinds, or rather two degrees of life — natu- 
ral and spiritual. The violation of the natural laws 
brings physical evils ; and the violation of the spiritual 
laws, spiritual evils. Thus all evils spring from the vio- 
lation of these laws. 

But can man oppose the laws of Him who made him, 
and sustains him, and gives him all the powers he has to 
feel, think, and act ? If man could not do this he could 
not steal, nor lie, nor murder ; for such acts cannot be 
according to the laws of goodness, and Goodness or God 
forbids them. If man has no power to break the laws of 
God, he has no power to keep them. And what would 
be the use of laws, either of God or man, for the govern- 
ment of creatures who are ever impelled onward by a 
force which they can neither resist nor avert ? "Who, 
that has examined his own heart, does not know that he 
is not this blind machine % 

But how could man originate evil? He could not 
* originate evil. Evil is not an original thing. It is the 
perversion of good. But how could man pervert the laws 
of his being, when he has no power but from God % He 
did not pervert the laws of his being : he acted from those 
laws. Did the laws of his being, then, make him trans- 
gress ? No : the laws of his being made him free : but it 
does not follow that because he was free he was obliged 
to transgress. Here is the grand point which men lose 
sight of. What would man be without freedom ? Would 
he be anything % He certainly would not be a man ; for 
men can make laws, and obey them or disobey them. He 
can reason, deliberate, and choose. Freedom is the grand 
characteristic of his nature. Without it man could not 
reason. Without freedom there could be no right, no 



40 NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

wrong, no responsibility, no love, no happiness, no heav- 
en. What a glorious boon is freedom ! It gives us the 
privilege of becoming good and true, lovely and happy. 
It is true, it gives us the liberty of being disorderly and 
miserable ; for true freedom could do no less than this. 

But how could man, through the exercise of his free- 
dom, violate the laws of life, unless there had been given 
him a disposition to violate them ? On the contrary, how 
could God give to man a disposition contrary to His own 
laws? for His laws are an expression of His own will. 
All the propensities which God could give to man must 
be orderly, pure, and heavenly. 

But here we are asked if we are not to understand, by 
the teachings of the Bible, that there is a being called 
the devil, who is the great leader of men into sin, the 
tempter to all transgression, the common " Adversary " 
of souls, who was once an angel of heaven, and was cast 
out for his wickedness ? To answer this, let us fall back 
upon First Principles, and see what they will create. We 
read that in the creation of all things at " the beginning," 
everything was good. There was no devil created, no 
hell. There was a serpent created which " was more 
subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God 
had made ; " but still he was " very good." And yet 
this is declared to be the identical serpent which tempted 
Eve. The doctrine of fallen angels has been drawn al- 
most exclusively from the twelfth chapter of Revelation, 
the result of the war between Michael and the dragon. 
But this whole chapter is a beautiful allegory, containing 
useful instruction to be understood by the spiritual sense 
of the "Word, explained in the following chapters of this 
book. 

It seems very strange that men should ever have sup- 



NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 41 

posed that the dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, 
who was cast ont of heaven more than four thousand 
years after the fall took place, should be the serpent 
which tempted Eve, when the whole Apocalypse is a 
prophecy of things which were to take place after the 
work was written. John expressly declares the matter 
stated to be things that " must shortly come to pass." 

The first passage of Scripture that looks toward the 
idea of a fallen angel was written more than three thou- 
sand years after the account of the fall, and says, " How 
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morn- 
ing ! how art thou cut down to the ground. . . . For 
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heav- 
en ; I will be like the Most High : yet thou shalt be 
brought down to hell." (Isa. xiv, 12, 13, 14, 15.) But we 
here see that he had never been in heaven, and that he 
fell because he aspired to be equal to God. He fell only 
from his anticipated or imaginary heaven. Indeed, he 
fell as Adam fell, in asking to be as God, and as all men 
fall who become " wise in their own eyes." 

The next passage that may be thought to favor the 
doctrine of fallen angels is in Luke, where " the seventy 
returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils 
are subject unto us through thy name. And He said 
unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven " 
(x, 17, 18). But the Lord then explains by saying, " Be- 
hold, I give' unto you power to tread on serpents and 
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy : " thus 
teaching them that the power of Satan, or of false light, 
falls from the imaginary heaven of men's minds as they 
tread upon, or keep down, the serpents and scorpions of 
the wicked heart. 

The next and last passage touching the subject is that 



42 NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

of Paul to the Corinthians : " Satan himself is transformed 
into an angel of light." (2 Cor. xi, 14.) This is the only 
passage in the Bible where the devil is called an angel, 
' and here it is said to be by transformation, and is not his 
real character. 

We have now mentioned all that the Bible says, in 
the literal sense, npon the subject of fallen angels, or of 
the origin of evil ; and it fails to produce the least evi- 
dence that an angel of the heavenly abode ever fell and 
became a devil on the earth. 

Milton's Paradise Lost, and not the Word of God, is 
what has impressed men with the idea of the devil as a 
fallen angel. The lively imagination of Milton has paint- 
ed the picture in glowing colors ; and it leaves a deep 
impression on the minds of religious people who love to 
read it. But had Milton had the spiritual sense of the 
Scriptures, he would have painted a very different pic- 
tare. And in the subsequent part of this book we shall 
give the true spiritual view of the fall. We can here 
only treat of it in the light of natural deductions drawn 
from First Principles. 

What, then, are we to understand by the phrase, " the 
devil " f The most correct brief definition that can be 
given to that phrase is, the love of evil. The fall of man 
gradually engendered the love of self; and as this love 
increased, the love of God diminished, till man loved him- 
self supremely. This self-love led him into covetousness, 
deceit, theft, murder, and all crimes, for the sake of self, 
which filled him with the love of evil, or with the devil. 
This love of evil, therefore, did not exist before the fall ; 
consequently there was no devil. How could there be a 
love of evil, when there was no evil to love and no desire 
to love it? Evil and the love of evil are, therefore, in 



NATUKE OF MAN, AND OEIGIN OF EVIL. 43 

their essence, inseparable, and came into existence to- 
gether. They are perverted states and principles of the 
human heart. 

Now it is certain this devil is not of God's creating. 
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. And surely 
there cannot be a self-existent, uncreated Devil, for such 
a being would be Infinite, and we should then have two 
Infinites, a good one and a bad one (which is most absurd 
and impossible), neither of whom could conquer the other ; 
whereas the Saviour did conquer death, hell, and the 
devil ; and offers men the power, in His Holy Spirit, to 
do the same. 

The devil, then, is the love of evil in the complex. 
Every person whose ruling love is the love of evil is a 
devil. Thus the Lord called Judas a devil. Now the 
head of " that old serpent the devil " is, the love of self. 
This love of self is the serpent's head which the Lord 
came to bruise, as will hereafter, be seen from the spirit- 
ual sense. 

Evil, then, is not an original thing : it is a perversion 
of good, a depraved love and its consequences, brought 
about by habit and cultivation, through the abuse of the 
good principles given us. God implanted no desire for 
evil, no taste or relish for it, in the human heart. Indeed, 
He could not, for it is contrary to His nature. He could 
not give what He did not possess Himself. 

God gave to man three things to be kept inviolate as 
his own. These three things are what distinguish him 
from the brutes, unite him with his- God, and thereby 
give him perpetual existence, and make him capable of 
becoming either an angel or an evil spirit. These three 
things constitute what may be called man's selfhood / for 
they give him individuality and elevate him above ma- 



44 STATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 

chinery. These three important endowments are Free- 
dom, Rationality, and Desire for knowledge — reason to 
determine, freedom to act, and curiosity to know. With- 
out these endowments, man could never be elevated 
above the beasts that perish. With them, he is a free, 
rational, and progressive being. These three endow- 
ments, as given by God, are all right. And though, from 
the very nature of these endowments, man may abuse 
them and become depraved, yet they are positive necessi- 
ties of his being. And the possibility of abusing them 
and falling into evil exists in the possibility of using them 
and rising into heavenly knowledge and happiness. In 
the freedom and ability to do right are necessarily involved 
the freedom and ability to do wrong. Bat no man, in 
the exercise of the freedom which God has given him, is 
obliged to do what he knows to be wrong. In the truth, 
by which he sees the wrong, God gives him the power to 
resist the temptation and do right, if he will look to the 
Lord and make the effort which he is free to do. Thus 
everything necessary for man's salvation is carefully pro- 
vided by the Lord. 

Man was not obliged to fall. God did not desire him 
to fall, for He commanded him not to eat of the knowl- 
edge of evil ; or, in other words, not to know evil and 
make it his good, by practising it, and thus appropriating 
it to his affections. God told him that if he did eat of it 
he would surely die. The forbidden fruit was the same 
that is now forbidden in the Decalogue. 

Nor did man intend to fall. He could not have had 
any such desire at first, for it would have been evil. 
Therefore, the fall must have been imperceptibly slow at 
first. Man, in the exercise of his curiosity to know new 
things, gradually overreached the true line of virtue and 



NATURE OF MAN, AND ORIGIN OF EVIL. 45 

justice, in such slight degrees as not to be aware that he 
was really diverging from the course of truth and right- 
eousness. He was young and ambitious, with everything 
to learn, and a desire to know everything : with no his- 
toric paths or beaten tracks of life before him ; no sym- 
bols of vice to warn him of his danger, nor examples of 
depravity to show him his faults. Thus he went on, 
gradually falling from the love of good to the love 
of evil. 

This fall may be illustrated in many ways. A man, 
ignorant of the quality of the poppy, while examining, 
tasting, and testing its medicinal properties, and its influ- 
ence upon the human system, may gradually obtain, by 
habit, an artificial relish for it which God did not give 
him, and, following up the growing demands of a disor- 
dered appetite, he eventually destroys his physical exist- 
ence by it : and so of antimony and alcohol. Thus, with- 
out any relish implanted in his nature for these poisons, 
he by habit obtains a love for what is destructive of 
physical order and happiness. Precisely so could the 
people of the primeval age, without any inherent tenden- 
cies to evil, obtain a love for that which is destructive of 
spiritual order and happiness. For illustration : the ine- 
briate is out of alcohol : the voracious appetite loudly 
demands it. The love of self and self-gratification — the 
very head of the serpent — is determined to have it at any 
cost. But the circumstances are such that it cannot be 
obtained without stealing it. The -better judgment sees 
the injustice of the theft ; but the serpent's demands are 
imperious, and the judgment finally yields ; and the Di- 
vine command is broken — the soul has eaten of the for- 
bidden fruit. And the next time it will be broken more 
easily. Thus he yields to the bite of the serpent, whose 



46 NATURE OF MAN, AND OEIGIN OF EVIL. 

tooth he had poisoned by his own indulgence, in permit- 
ting it to run wild when he might have controlled it. 

Tims the love of evil, brought on by gradually vitiat- 
ing the orderly demands of mind and body, is that old 
serpent the Devil, who " as a roaring lion walketh about, 
seeking whom he may devour." And is not this the 
great enemy of mankind ? What evil or crime was ever 
committed that this devil did not do ? Look at the 
wretch in human form, with this devil in the midst of his 
depraved and morbid appetites of soul and body ! "What 
else have we so much to fear ? His hand is pollution to 
everything hetouches. 

These serpents of the human heart are the evils to 
which the Saviour alludes when He says He will give 
His discijDles " power to tread on serpents and scorpions, 
and over all the power of the enemy." They had no 
more power over the snakes of the earth than other peo- 
ple. But over the serpent of the mind they had power 
from the Lord. Paul to the Corinthians says, i I fear, 
lest, ... as the serpent beguiled Eve through his 
subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from 'the 
simplicity that is in Christ." Here Paul is afraid that 
the minds of his disciples will be corrupted as the serpent 
beguiled Eve, or in the same way that she was beguiled. 
This is proof positive that Paul did not suppose that any 
natural serpent tempted Eve. For it cannot be believed 
that Paul was afraid that the snakes of this earth would 
lead his disciples into sin. No : it was their sinful de- 
sires to gratify the wayward demands of the heart, that 
Paul was afraid of. 

Thus, immediately after the fall, the Saviour was 
promised to bruise the serpent's head, or the love of self. 
This work was the great object of His mission. It is no- 



NATUKE OF MAN, AND OEIGIN OF EVIL. 47 

where recorded that He killed a snake. When He came 
in the flesh the kingdom of Satan, or of the serpent, ruled 
on earth. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil 
in the human heart, and establish His own kingdom 
there. When the serpent rules, the whole mind is in dis- 
order. When Christ rules, all is happiness and peace. 



CHAPTER IV. 



ACTION AND EEACTION : OE, GOOD AND ITS EEWAEDS ; EVIL AND 
ITS CONSEQUENCES. 

The Lord, in His Word, says to us, "Judge not, that ye 
be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall 
be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be 
measured to you again." (Matt, vii, 1, 2.) He says, 
" give, and it shall be given unto you : " that according 
to what we sow we shall reap : that u the soul that sim 
neth, it shall die : " that " the righteousness of the 
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the 
wicked shall be upon him." (Ezek. xviii, 20.) 

The spirit and life of these passages bring before us an 
eternal law, which is as reliable and certain, in spiritual 
things, as that of action and reaction is, in natural things. 
We know that the earth bears as hard against the man 
who stands upon it, as he does against the earth, and by 
this means he can walk. And this is but a natural illus- 
tration of a higher law which appertains to spiritual things 
with equal certainty. And while this law, in the natural 
plane, pervades the universe of matter ; and no machinery 
could move, and nothing could exist without it ; so, in the 
spiritual plane, it pervades the universe of mind, and 



ACTION AND REACTION. 49 

nothing could move, or exist, without it. And a proper 
understanding of this law will throw much light into our 
minds, from the Holy Word, and enable us the more 
readily to understand the divine teaching and the laws of 
our spiritual existence. 

Now, it is a sure law of our being that whatsoever 
we do to another, spiritually, that is, as to our will and 
design toward him, whether it be intended for his good or 
his evil, must, as a matter of course, affect us for good or 
for evil. We must receive back upon our souls an im- 
pression of the same quality and force as that we intended 
to give. And if men truly saw and felt the consequences 
of breaking this law, as sensibly as they do that of the 
physical law, by the pain they feel when they burn their 
fingers, they would be very careful how they desire, or 
perform, anything but good to others. And when this 
great law, for the regulation of all minds, is properly felt 
and acknowledged, by the human race, the world will 
come into order. 

It would seem that it ought to have been thus felt and 
acknowledged ere this ; for it is, in reality, the basis of all 
law, civil and religious. And, in the ignorant ages of the 
world, God suffered the law of receiving according to what 
we give, to be carried out in ultimates, in physical retalia- 
tions, to the very letter. Thus, the command to the Jews 
was, " Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for 
hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, 
plague for plague, stripe for stripe." And these laws were 
rigidly observed and enforced. Whatsoever a man did to 
another was done to him in return. This law was car- 
ried into all the departments of life, civil and religious. 
If a witness testified falsely against a man, the command 
was, " Ye shall do unto him as he sought to do unto his 



50 ACTION AND KE ACTION. 

brother." If the false testimony would have convicted 
the brother of a crime deserving death, then the witness 
was to be put to death. 

The Jews had a great variety of these retaliatory laws. 
Why did God give such laws ? Because they sprang 
from the great principle that whatsoever measure men 
mete to others, spiritually, or as to will or intention, must 
be measured to them again — must come upon their souls. 
The Jewish law was, therefore, an exemplification, in the 
letter, of the truth of a spiritual law. God desired thus 
emphatically to teach it, in His Holy Word, and to that 
people as best for their good ; and, also, that future ages 
of the world might thereby learn to see, and regard it in 
the spirit. But in the New Testament the law, in the 
letter, is not enforced. 

We may now will to our enemies physical punish- 
ments, and inflict them, without being obliged, by the 
civil law, to receive the same corporal sufferings. But if 
we do not inflict it on them for their soul's good, or for 
the good of mankind, and do it, not in a spirit of kind- 
ness, but with a revengeful spirit, to torment them, our 
own soul must reap its bitter reward. 

Now, although the law is a spiritual law, and is there- 
fore positive and sure, yet the Jews were so low that they 
could see it only in the letter, and to reach their states it 
was recorded in the letter. And, to persons in their 
sensual and depraved condition, it was a wholesome law, 
even in the letter, and served rather to elevate than to 
lower them. For the prompt and sure execution of the 
penalty impressed them with a sense of the vileness of the 
crime ; and restrained them from a thousand wicked in- 
dulgences, and held them in the fear of God's power, and 
in respect to His Law. 



ACTION AND REACTION. 51 

Now, the law of the New Testament, commanding ns 
to do unto others as we would that they should do unto 
us, and assuring us that the measure we mete to others 
will be measured to us again, is only another form of the 
retaliatory law of the Jews. The spiritual import of both 
is the same : one is suited to one dispensation, and the 
other to another. 

But, as people see that the law, under the Christian 
dispensation, is not carried out, in the letter : that men do 
not receive, upon their bodies, the measure they mete to 
others ; many have settled down in the belief that the law 
means nothing ; or, at most, its penalty is a very doubtful 
matter, and but little to be feared. Such minds can only 
be reached by a conscious certainty of the spiritual sense, 
through a rational view of the law itself. But men will 
yet see that the law, whereby the souls of men, in their 
intentions and purposes, must receive back the measure 
they mete to others, is as certain as that God liveth. 

Upon this eternal law rest the safety of the spiritual 
world and the order and harmony of the universe. It is 
the golden rule of the Gospel, the spirit of the whole 
Divine code, the essence of the two great commandments, 
and the foundation of all wholesome, civil laws. 

And there is no mitigating or averting it in the least. 
Nor is there any possibility of transferring the penalty 
from one person to another ; for it comes as the legitimate 
effect of a cause; not solely, as a command of- God. It 
would come if God had not said so. The written laws of 
God are only expressions of Eternal Principles which exist 
in the very nature of things. The Written Law does not 
bring the penalty ; nor does God. It is the violation of 
the Law. Man, by violating the Law of love to God and 
the neighbor, brings upon his own soul the same measure 



52 ACTION AND REACTION. 

he metes. And upon his soul, and no other, can it possi- 
bly fall. " The soul that sinneth it shall die." 

Now, what is this death ? It is the loss of some love 
of right : and the death extends just to the degree of the 
loss. For the love of right, or love of good, is life : the 
loss of it is death. What is the effect of this death? 
Unhappiness. "What occasions the unhappiness ? It is 
the want of harmony with the laws of happiness, or of 
love to God and the neighbor. What inflicts this misery ? 
The condition of the sinner. Does God or His Law con- 
demn him ? No : " this is the condemnation, that light 
has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather 
than light, because their deeds were evil." Does God 
w T aut him to remain dead ? No : He invites him back 
in the tenderest manner ; and pleads with him, and en- 
treats him to return, with all the compassion of a Father 
for a child. He assures him that "when the wicked 
man turneth away from his wickedness . . . and doeth 
that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul 
alive." (Ezek. xviii, 27.) Is the Law opposed to his 
coming ? No : it is given on purpose to show him the 
way back. " The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting 
the soul. (Ps. xix, 7.) He has placed himself in opposi- 
tion to the Law ; but the Law is still his friend, ready to 
receive him with open arms. What then are God's de- 
sires toward the sinner? That he should be happy, 
" Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die ? 
saith the Lord God ; and not that he should return from 
his ways, and live ? " (Ezek. xviii, 23.) What will give 
man that happiness? A return to harmony with the 
Law. What obstacle is there in the way of his return ? 
None but the sinner's own indispostion. "Whosoever 
will, let him take the water of life freely." Is he free to 



ACTION AND REACTION. 53 

return ? Yes ; and has the power constantly extended to 
him to do so. " Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die." 
How is this return to be made % By repenting of his feel- 
ings of opposition to the Law ; faith in the Lord and in 
the .truth which shows him his evils and the way back ; and 
faithful and prayerful obedience to that truth till he loves 
the Law, and God, and his neighbor. Then he is happy. 

But, here we are told that we are at variance with the 
doctrine, that Christ suffered the penalty of the sins of 
men in their stead. We answer that we have not written 
this book in any spirit of religious controversy, but simply 
to speak the irrefutable teachings of the Holy Word in all 
that we say ; and we now speak understanding^ when we 
say that Christ, in His coming, changed no Divine Law : 
that He came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfil ; and 
that there is nothing in the Holy Word that teaches that 
God ever affixed any penalty to sin that could not be re- 
mitted by the sinner's breaking off from it by righteous- 
ness ; nor is it anywhere taught that the Saviour suffered 
the penalty of man's sins, or even that God forgives them. 
But, on the contrary, it is decidedly and universally taught 
that men must suffer the penalty of their sins. Thus it is 
written in Jer. xiv, 14, " I will recompense them ac- 
cording to their deeds ; " in Luke xxiii, 41, "We receive 
the reward of our deeds ; " in Rom. ii, 6-11, "God will 
render to every -man according to his deeds," " for there 
is no respect of persons with God ; " in Ps. lxii, 12, 
" Thou renderest to every man according to his works ; 
and in Rev. xx, 12, 13, concerning the final judgment, 
when the books of men's lives were opened, it is declared 
that " the dead were judged out of those things that were 
written in the books, according to their works." 

The fact is, we have grown up from childhood under 



54 ACTION AND EEACTION. 

the idea that forgiveness of sins is the relinquishment 
of punishment. And it is hard for men to see that 
the removal of evil dispositions is the only remission 
of sins. 

There is much said, in the Word, about the forgiveness 
of sins, but the penalty is another thing. Sins are the 
evils of the will. Their action brings forward the penal- 
ty ; these evil loves or sins may be remitted, by the Lord, 
through faith and repentance, and the resisting of tempta- 
tions, till we obtain good loves. And when these sins or 
evils are removed, the penalty is gone. The sin, or evil 
in the soul, is the cause of the penalty or unhappiness, 
and therefore the penalty must stand against a man till 
the cause is removed. God neither inflicts nor remits the 
penalties of transgression. They are the sure effects of 
man's sins. He remits the sins when men repent of them 
and forsake them. 

Then, as God does not forgive the penalty of man's 
sins, but the transgressor bears it, the Lord could not 
suffer it. But, we should not, on this account, undervalue 
the great work of Kedemption. "We owe everything to 
the Lord for what He then did for us. "We were sinners 
in a lost and most miserable and hopeless condition. And 
the Merciful Lord wanted to save us. The event, there- 
fore, is just as important to us, as though He had actually 
suffered the penalty of our sins. It provides a rational 
and consistent way for our salvation : and all was done 
gratuitously and in pure mercy, for us. It is therefore 
recorded that He died for us. But, what died ? Every 
propensity of His nature that could be tempted — every 
tendency toward self-love. He crucified them in His as- 
sumed nature, that He might be able to reach us and dis- 
pose us, in His Spirit, to crucify them in our nature. 



ACTION AND REACTION. 55 

It is also said that by His stripes we are healed. That 
is, by His stripes He was made perfect ; and His Spirit 
was thereby brought to our aid, so that we might be healed 
of our sins, by following Him. "We are taught that He 
was made perfect through suffering. And in Luke, it is 
written, " Ought not Christ to have suffered these things 
and to enter into His glory." 

Again we are taught that He became sin for us / and 
that He bore our sins. That is, He assumed our sinful 
nature, and thus bore our sins, or the sins of the world, in 
their tendencies, but not in actuality. He never sinned. 
And He would now aid us to bear our sins as He did 
without sinning ; and also to resist them in His spirit, and 
thus to follow Him in the regeneration. 

Again, He was a Propitiation for our sins. Now, a 
propitiation is a reconciliation. He took our fallen and 
unreconciled nature, and propitiated, atoned, or reconciled 
it to the Divine nature. And He became that propitia- 
tion for our sins, or because we had sins, and He wanted 
us to become propitiated, or reconciled to God, through 
His spirit, by forsaking those sins. 

Now, it has been supposed that the acts of the Lord, 
here mentioned, had reference to the penalty of man's sins ; 
but that is a mistake. It does not say that He died for 
the penalty of our sins ; or that He bore the penalty ; or 
that the penalty is removed by His stripes ; or that He 
was a propitiation for the penalty. Indeed the penalty is 
nowhere alluded to in the whole Scripture, but as some- 
thing that the sinner himself must bear. 

Much is said of what Christ has done for the sins of 
the world, and for the forgiveness and remission of these 
sins. But the forgiveness of the penalty is in no instance 
alluded to, but plainly denied. " The righteousness of 



56 ACTION AND REACTION. 

the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of 
the wicked shall be upon him." 

It has been supposed, by some, that the Lord has 
changed this great law of receiving according to the mea- 
sure we mete, because He says in Matthew, " Ye have 
heard that it hath been said, an eye for- an eye, and a 
tooth for a tooth ; but I say unto you that ye resist not 
evil." But what rational mind cannot see that an Infinite 
Law cannot be changed ? God's laws are the expressions 
of His own immutable Will and Wisdom. 

By the words above, from the Sermon on the Mount, 
we may readily see that the punishment for sin never 
comes from God. God, and angels, and all good men are 
kind toward the good and the bad. Evil intentions bring 
upon the soul its own disordered state, and consequently 
its unhappiness ; and when carried out they often bring 
the corporal punishments of the civil law upon man. 

]STow we repeat, that the law by which we receive 
back the measure we mete to others, is as essential to our 
spiritual being, as is the law of action and reaction to our 
natural being. Indeed, we see no other way that evil 
could be restrained, or the order of the spiritual uni- 
verse preserved. It is therefore a great blessing that we 
sutler the penalty of the violated Law. Take away the 
penalty of the civil law, and how soon the world would go 
to destruction. Take away the pain we feel at the viola- 
tion of the physical law, and children would cut off their 
fingers, and put out their eyes, and be crushed to pieces 
by carelessness. It is the great law for the preservation 
of physical life ; and the spiritual law of receiving accord- 
ing to what we give, would be equally preservative, if it 
were as well understood and felt. 

How promptly does the rope walker watch and obey 



ACTION AND REACTION. 57 

the mechanical law of action and reaction, that his whole 
weight may act against the rope ; lest he suffer the conse- 
quences of the violated law by the reaction of the solid 
earth, by a concussion. 

Now man is made rational and free that he may obey, 
or disobey, this great Law, either in its mental or physical 
operations. We know the consequences of breaking the 
law, physically. Would to God we were as sensible of 
what would follow the spiritual violation ; that of love to 
God and the neighbor. Then would man turn from his 
evil way and live. 

We brace ourselves against the wind, making our 
reaction just equal to the force, that we be not blown 
away. So, we may spiritually resist the current of temp- 
tation which besets us, that we be not swept away by a 
torrent of vice. " The Stone which the builders rejected, 
the same is become the head of the corner : this is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes : and who- 
soever shall fall on this Stone shall be broken : but on 
whomsoever It shall fall, It will grind him to powder." 
(Matt, xxi, 42, 44.) 



3* 



CHAPTER V. 



THE DIVINE INFLUX. 



In order to prepare the mind to receive the ideas ex- 
pressed in the next chapter, upon God and Ckeatton, or 
Cause and Effect, we here interpose a few thoughts on 
the Law of Influent Life, as a supplement to Chapter III, 
and an introduction to Chapter YL 

If the premises, as to the Divine qualities, laid down 
in the second chapter, be true, the conclusions to which 
we have arrived in the third and fourth chapters, as to 
the nature and character of man, and of evil and its 
origin, as well as the law of Action and Reaction, must 
also be true. For the premises being true, this sequence 
must follow. Any argument, therefore, that may be 
offered against the view we have taken of the fall, or 
against anything we may say in this book, will be made 
against the First and Eternal Principles laid down for our 
guidance in the first chapter. For on them we rest, and 
from them and what they teach, we shall draw all our con- 
clusions as to what is right or wrong, good or evil. 

Now, we are taught by those principles that the Lord 
is The Llfe (John xi, 25) ; that He is The Fountain of 
Llfe (Ps. xxxvi, 9) ; and that He giveth Life to the World 



THE DIVINE INFLUX. 59 

(John vi, 33) ; that He giveth Life to all (Acts xvii, 25) ; 
that this Life is spiritual and eternal substance ; and that 
even the words that He speaks are this very life. (John 
vi, 63.) 

From all this we see that Life is not a created thing • 
but something given to all men and things by the Lord. 
God breathes into men the breath of life. Nothing, 
therefore, can exist but in connection with the Lord, by 
the constant, unbroken stream of influent life. This life, 
in its Essence, being Love and "Wisdom, the human will 
and understanding are the only receptacles of it, which 
can affectionately feel, and rationally understand this con- 
nection. Men can know something of God, and can love 
Him. Other things receive the life, but know nothing 
about it. This Divine Life, then, ever flows into and 
vitalizes the entire universe, and is consequently the mo- 
tive force of all action. 

It is a mistaken philosophy which supposes that the 
Creator gave to the universe, at its creation, certain laws ; 
such as motion, gravitation, heat, light, life, germination, 
growth, and reproduction ; and that these laws were made 
innate, and were given to the universe as its own ; and 
that having been put in motion, all things must continue 
to move on till the Hand that created them shall see fit to 
stop them. For the laws, in reality, belong not to nature. 
Strictly speaking, nature has no laws. God's thoughts 
are the only laws, and His feelings are the only impulses 
which move this vast domain. Should He cease to think 
and feel, all would stop ; yea, all would cease to be. Na- 
ture itself cannot think, feel, nor act. The Divine Love, 
Wisdom, and Power are its life, laws, and energies. Na- 
ture without these is but a dead body. Nor has it life 
enough to move onward a single step further without the 



60 THE DIVINE INFLUX. 

influx of more. The creative and propelling powers are 
the same. 

This creative force is the spring of all conception and 
birth — whether spiritual or natural ; whether human, 
animal, vegetable, or mineral. It forms the gem, opens 
the bud, expands the flower, and ripens the fruit. It is 
the fountain of all heat, and the source of all light. But, 
it is asked, Does not the sun give heat and light, germina- 
tion and growth to the things of earth % We answer, No : 
the sun has no power to do anything. It is a mere instru- 
ment through which the Lord operates in this lower 
sphere. The heat and light of the sun are but the ulti- 
mates or effects of God's Love and Wisdom. This Love 
and "Wisdom are in every ray of light which the sun gives 
forth. Should God's Love and Wisdom cease to flow 
into the sun, it would not only cease to shine, but it would 
cease to be. The sun, therefore, has no heat but from 
God's Love, and no light but from His Wisdom. And 
yet the heat of the sun is not Love, nor is its light Wis- 
dom. They are but the effects or correspondences of 
Love and Wisdom. Thus the natural universe of things 
is the effect of God's Love, Wisdom, and Power, as the 
great First Cause; and the Cause is ever giving life to 
the effect. This must be so : for God is Life, and He 
giveth Life to the world, and to all things, and the Words 
which He speaks are this life ; for His Words must con- 
tain His Love and Wisdom. 

The operation of this Divine Influx into all things, is 
the great law of Creative Life. By its outgoing influ- 
ence the universe was created, and all was pronounced 
good. And when that work was finished, to the extent 
that man was created, and all was very good, everything 
was under this Divine Law of Love and Wisdom, and the 



THE DIVINE INFLUX. 61 

Divine Law was in everything : " I in thee and thou in me," 
saith the Lord. Man was an image of his Maker and the 
world was an image of man, and all was in perfect har- 
mony from the dust of the earth up to the great Jehovah. 
The divine, outflowing Love was the life of all ; and the 
Divine Wisdom was the Law in which everything moved, 
at the Infinite impulse of the Divine Love. Not an im- 
pure thought to. becloud the understanding, nor an unkind 
feeling to disturb the bosom of happy humanity. The 
heavens declared the glory of God, and the firmament 
showed His handiwork. Sun and moon praised Him. 
All stars and light praised Him: fruitful trees and all 
cedars ; beasts and all cattle ; worms and feathered fowl. 
Everything that had breath praised the Lord. Nature 
was one universal harp, with every string in concord. 
The balmy breath of heaven swept its ten thousand strings 
in perfect harmony. It was prepared, in all its sweetness 
and beauty, for man's delight, edification, and develop- 
ment. 

Under these blessed auspices, man was introduced into 
being, in the infancy of his days, as the highest and ten- 
derest object of the Divine care. All was made for man. 
Here he was in the bright sunshine of youth, with a soul 
in perfect concord with the golden harp of nature ; with 
the beautiful earth spread out at his feet, and the shining 
heavens rolling above him. Thus we first find man in 
the garden of paradise, with a mind just opening for the 
reception of knowledge: God the Teacher, man the 
pupil, and the universe his text-books ; and every page 
told the truth. Not an object before him, in the vast 
creation, but which was lovely, and spake to him in 
accents of wisdom and kindness, from the Fountain of 
his being. And his soul responded in emotions of good 



62 THE DIVINE INFLUX. 

will. One universal law of light and life pervaded the 
scene ; and there was no evil in existence. God was the 
source of all Power, and all that Power ever went forth 
from Him in the Laws of Wisdom and Love ; and all was 
harmony. 

Could that harmony be disturbed ? It could : and man 
was the only being in existence that could do it. All 
other created things but acted out, by intuition, the per- 
fect uses of their existence. They had no will nor wisdom 
of their own. They were made for this world only, and 
answered the full purpose of their being. 

But man was designed for a higher sphere of life. He 
was now only in the germ of his manhood ; possessing an 
innumerable variety of undeveloped principles and facul- 
ties. Everything in the universe corresponded to those 
principles. Each object denoted something which God 
possessed in its fulness and man in the germ. And it 
was only in the proper development of these principles of 
man's nature, that he could obtain true knowledge. But 
in their orderly development, he would obtain knowledge 
of everything — of God, of the universe, and of himself. 

Eow, it is because man possessed in himself, from the 
Lord, the elements of the universe in embryo, that he was 
capable of scientifically investigating nature, and her laws 
of action. Man could learn nothing of lower things if he 
did not, from the Lord, possess some elements of them in 
himself. All knowledge whatever that man can possibly 
obtain, is only an insight into human nature and its rela- 
tions, making man thereby acquainted with God and 
His works. 

The reason an animal cannot be taught science is, he 
is but a fragment of something, and that fragment is all 
that he ever can be. A certain animal corresponds to a 



THE DIVINE INFLUX. 63 

principle in man's affections. To that particular charac- 
ter he is limited ; having no variety of principles whereby 
he can compare, distinguish, and reason. But man can 
learn anything, not Infinite, because he is the embodi- 
ment and combination of the elements of all finite things ; 
for man was made in the image and likeness of his God, 
and therefore must contain, in a limited degree, the capa- 
city to receive something of all the Divine Elements con- 
tained in nature. Eternity, therefore, cannot fully satisfy 
this capacity. 

Nor can these elements or possibilities of the human 
mind be developed from any powers or principles which 
man possesses in himself. All power is in God, and the 
Life of all the Elements of being is in Him. No created 
thing can be developed beyond its capacities, and every- 
thing is developed by influx from God. 

The elementary capacities for obtaining all science and 
knowledge are in man, as the elementary capacities for 
the development of the tree are in the acorn. But, as the 
tree cannot be developed from the acorn without the heat 
and light of the sun, so neither can man be developed 
without the Love and "Wisdom of God. But there is a 
great difference in the mode in which the heat and light 
of the sun are brought to bear upon the acorn, in the de- 
velopment of the tree ; and that in which the Love and 
Wisdom of God are brought to bear upon the human 
mind, in the development of man. And a full knowledge 
of this difference shows the origin of all discord. 

Now, there is something in the acorn besides matter. 
There is life there, with all the tendencies to produce 
trunk, branches, leaves, blossoms, and fruit. So there is 
life in man at his birth, with tendencies to produce a 
human soul in full manhood. Both the tree and the man 



64 THE DIVINE INFLUX. 

are to be developed by means of influent life from the 
Lord. But the tree is entirely passive in its development, 
while man is active in the formation of his mind. In- 
deed, none of the lower orders of things have any free 
agency in their formation. They are obliged to be formed 
just as they are. 'Nov can they change in the least the 
order or character of their development. Eut man has an 
agency in establishing the character and quality of his 
mind. He is not obliged to cultivate his mind at all. 
Indeed, he must work hard, in order properly to develop 
his faculties. And he can change the order and character 
of the growth of his mind. He can cultivate either a kind 
or an unkind disposition. 

The reason why animals cannot change the order and 
character of their development is, that there can be no 
separation between their thoughts and their feelings ; they 
being, in their fragmentary condition, neither free nor 
rational. Their thought is an intuitive act of the mind 
flowing from instinctive feeling, by means of influent life. 
Therefore, the thought is but an outward expression or 
action of the feeling, and cannot be separated from it. 
There can, therefore, be no hypocrisy in an animal. 

The reason man can change the order and character 
of the development of his mind is, that he can separate 
his thoughts from his feelings. He can think one thing 
and desire another. He can, therefore, say what he 
knows to be false. Thus man can do what no other 
creature can do, nor even God himself. Man can He. No 
other creature can bear false witness. If an animal be 
angry, he manifests it the moment the anger rises. But 
man can approach you with a smile in his face, malice in 
his heart, and the concealed dagger in his hand to plunge 
into your bosom. 



THE DIVINE INFLUX. 65 

Now, here is a quality not in harmony with Gocl or 
His laws. Indeed, it is the very essence of hell, and is 
the means of all discord and misery. It nowhere existed 
when God pronounced all things good. Man, therefore, 
must have introduced it into the world. It could not 
spring from God ; for God is love. It could not come 
from His laws, for they condemn it. Man, by habit, 
corrupted his own affections and thoughts, and thus intro- 
duced sin and death into the world. 

But, why did not God make man so that he could not 
fall? Because that would be making him so that he 
would not be a man. God desired to make man, not a 
machine. All that God does is right : man only does 
wrong. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GOD AND CREATION ; OR, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 

A glance at the movement of Creative Life, by Efflux and Influx, producing 
Action and Reaction, and establishing the Divine Law of Analogy between 
Spiritual and Natural or Mental and Physical Things. 

The first principle in existence is Life — Life Infinite, 
Self-existent, Substantial, and Eternal — Life that can 
neither be increased nor diminished, but which is con- 
stantly manifesting Itself in new creations and varieties 
of forms and qualities, with given powers, and means of 
perpetual multiplication and extension. This Life is 
therefore the Centre, the Source, and the Father of every- 
thing ; ever sustaining and giving life to all It creates. 
And though It is Infinite, and therefore above man's 
comprehension, yet we obtain the first rational approach 
toward It in thought by contemplating It as consisting 
of three inseparable, essential Elements — Infinite Love or 
Will, Infinite Wisdom or Understanding, and Infinite 
Power or Energy. This Life, therefore, is Divine Sub- 
stance — The Great Jehovah Himself — the Infinite and 
Eternal Cause of the created universe, as the finite effect. 
This effect is ever connected with the Cause, is sustained 
by It, and is constantly filled with life from It. 



GOD AND CREATION ; OR, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 67 

As this Divine Life flows out from the Creative Cen- 
tre, It produces and sustains all things in their order, 
from highest to lowest and from lowest to highest, creat- 
ing in Its descent all the various spheres of action in 
regular succession. Through these spheres, into the final 
ultimate or mineral kingdom, upon which all other things 
rest, the Divine Elements are ever descending and oper- 
ating for new creations. For, in the material plane, all 
power can be exercised in the forces of action and reac- 
tion. Matter is, therefore, the field of action for all crea- 
tive life. Without it, the effluent Life from God would 
be unproductive for the want of a created substance or 
base to evolve Itself in and act upon, for the creation of 
new and higher forms of being. All the angels of heav- 
en, therefore, must have commenced their existence in 
this ultimate plane of being, and have ascended from 
these low beginnings up the scale of life, forming the 
various heavens, and must be still approximating the per- 
fection of their Heavenly Father by the higher elements 
of life He is ever imparting to them adapted to their ad- 
vancing states, for their more full and perfect develop- 
ment. Thus the angel whom John was about to worship 
on Patmos said, " See thou do it not : for I am thy fellow- 
servant, and of thy brethren the prophets : " and though 
in heaven, yet their life must ever rest and act upon the 
ultimates in which their existence commenced. For 
every human being is a recipient and medium of life from 
God, and that life stops not in its descent until it reaches 
the ultimate of all existences — -the great work-house of 
creation. Every variety of life, therefore, is represented 
in the material world. Therefore the Lord says, " The 
heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool." (Isa. 
lxvi, 1.) 



68 GOD AND CREATION 

This life, being spiritual substance, is discretely dis- 
tinct from matter, yet matter manifests it and is filled 
with it, as the human body is filled with a living soul. 
Thus there are two universes — the spiritual and the ma- 
terial, or the universe of mind and the universe of matter. 
The spiritual or mental world consists of God, the angels 
and spirits, and the souls of men, and the elements of life 
in all their variety of forms and qualities. The material 
world embraces the bodies of men and all other matter 
of the universe. The spiritual world is the world of 
causes, and the material world is the world of effects. 
And as there can be no effect without its cause, so there 
can be nothing in the world of matter which does not dis- 
tinctly represent something in the world of mind. And 
it represents it by the perfect Divine Law of analogy. 
This law is the relation which must exist between a cause 
and its effect. Therefore, between the world of Mind 
and the world of Matter this law of analogy universally 
prevails ; so that spiritual things are to be understood by 
analogy, through natural things. Thus when light is 
mentioned in the Word it means, by analogy, truth. 
This analogy is not like a common figure of speech. It 
is a higher law than can exist between one natural thing 
and another. It is the union of inner things with outer, 
or higher things with lower. Indeed, it is the great law 
by which the spiritual and natural worlds exist. For as 
an effect cannot exist without a cause, so neither can a 
cause exist without an effect. 

Therefore the entire created universe is a constantly 
renewed and sustained result from and by the Lord. It 
is not God, but is the effect of God. God is the Cause ; 
and He fills the universe with life. It is because the 
effect is related to the cause that He can fill it with life. 



GOD AND CREATION; OK, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 69 

This relation is the law of analogy, and it is the means 
which holds the universe together and to its Creator, 

Now the great end or object of the Creator, in giving 
existence to the universe, must have been the production 
of His own image and likeness in created intelligences, 
whom He could forever bless and make happy by His 
own goodness and truth, whereby they could know Him 
and love Him, and thus be filled with heavenly life and 
joy. This we may see from the universal law wherein 
everything is in the effort to produce its kind — to bring 
forth its own likeness. The imparting of that law to all 
His creatures emphatically bespeaks its existence in God. 

Now a man, in true order, is in the image and like- 
ness of God ; but any other created thing, below man, is 
only an image of some principle in God or in man. 

The order of the outward creation of the world was 
from lower things to- higher : first minerals, then vege- 
tables, then animals, and finally man ; thus orderly and 
gradually approximating, by higher and purer organiza- 
tions, the real Divine Image, until God finally crowned 
the creation* with man as the sum total and embodiment 
of all things below him : for when all but man was cre- 
ated, and everything was in readiness to produce him, the 
vast varieties of things scattered throughout the universe 
were but humanity in fragments. Everything was an 
image of some principle which was to be in man ; and it 
took them all combined to make man. Man could not 
exist until these things were created ; for upon them his 
body must subsist, and through them his mind must be 
educated. And when all these materials were brought 
harmoniously together in man, and all was pronounced 
good, the vast universe represented man, and man repre- 
sented his Maker. 



70 god and ceeation; oe, cause and effect. 

Who cannot see that the things which God creates 
must, as they come from Him, be in their degree like 
Him, so far as finite things can be like the Infinite % His 
Love desires their creation, His Wisdom devises the 
mode, and His Power executes it ; and they come forth, 
not out of nothing, but from Himself, and He gives them 
their life and existence. The withdrawal of His Love 
from any created objects would at that instant cut off the 
stream of life, and they would cease to be. It requires the 
same power to sustain as it does to create. Preservation 
is perpetual creation. 

From this ground we see that, during the whole pro- 
cess of the creation, God was making man ; that He is 
the Infinite Man, the Eternal Creator of His own image ; 
and that all things that He creates must, as they come 
from His hands, be in their degree expressions of some- 
thing of Himself. But He does not add to Himself. He 
makes nothing Infinite. Infinity is all. Everything is 
involved in it. 

The highest individual image of God is the wisest and 
purest man or angel. But even that image is being con- 
stantly improved by the further reception of goods and 
truths for its ever-expanding mind and increasing wants. 
And the affectionate union of various wise and good 
minds into a society, imparting to each other what the 
Lord gives them, is a higher and more full image than an 
individual. And this image will be forever improving 
by the advancement of each of its parts, and by the con- 
tinual accumulation of more individuals. For no two 
men are alike, and no two receive alike from the 
Lord. Each individual added to the society is a new 
medium of life to the general body, having something to 
give which the society did not before receive, and thus 



GOD AND CREATION; OR, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 71 

supplying a deficiency in the general image, and adding 
to the life and happiness of all. But the perfection of the 
Divine Original can never be reached, though forever ap- 
proximated. For Infinity can never exhaust itself by 
giving forth new finite expressions of its parts in created 
intelligences, filling them with life. 

!Nbw in the process of creation, when all things were 
in readiness for the production of man ; when the vast 
variety of human principles lay scattered throughout the 
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms in living forms ; 
when all nature was a beautiful page of mental symbols 
in physical robes, with no created rational being on earth 
to read the expressive characters, and love and worship 
the Author ; then it is that we behold Man making his 
appearance — Man, the sum total of creation — the con- 
necting link between God above him and nature below 
him, and thus the crowning act of the creation. 

And as man was made above all other things in the 
scale of creation, by being endowed with rationality and 
freedom ; and, at the same time, embracing within him- 
self all the various qualities of life which animated the 
natural world ; therefore life had, thereafter, to be sup- 
plied to natural things, through the medium of man. 
For the order of influent life from God must ever be 
through higher things into lower. 

As this stream of life passes through the thoughts and 
feelings of man, he imparts to it his qualities : conse- 
quently, as man fell the various creatures and things 
below man partook of his depravity. Thus they became 
changed and modified, according to the various vicissi- 
tudes and changes of man's states and qualities. Nature 
became corrupted through man's vileness. The earth 
brought forth thorns and thistles ; the wild beasts became 
quarrelsome and ferocious ; and poisonous serpents and 



72 GOD and creation; or, cause and effect. 

reptiles, hawks and owls, moles and bats annoyed the 
human race. And the labor necessary to cultivate the 
earth, subdue the thorns and thistles, and guard against 
and control the wild beasts and serpents, in order to sus- 
tain and secure man's physical life, perfectly represents 
the mental labor necessary to subdue and control the evils 
and falsities of the soul, for the proper sustenance and 
security of spiritual life. 

But here an objection may be raised on the ground 
that carnivorous animals, reptiles, fishes, and insects, ex- 
isted and preyed upon each other before man was upon 
the earth. But it does not follow from this that there 
was anything like anger or malice in them — auy thing 
that disposed them to fight for the sake of fighting. They 
had appetites that demanded food, and they could satisfy 
those appetites without feelings of revenge, or any spirit 
but what flowed from the innocent demands of nature. 
The fishes could prey upon each other, and the birds 
upon the insects, as a means of subsistence and general 
good, without disorder. Fishes and insects seem to be 
multiplied for this purpose. And did not the fishes prey 
upon each other, the exuberance of their progeny would 
fill the waters and produce general destruction. The 
things of nature must subsist upon what nature brings 
forth, as a matter of course ; and all are for the service 
and subsistence of man. The question is, whether there 
was anything infectious or malignant in nature — venom 
in the serpent's tooth, or poison in the mineral or vege- 
table kingdom ; or thorns and thistles, blight and mildew 
destroying the* good fruits, or warlike and quarrelsome 
propensities in the animals. And God's very Nature for- 
bids us to believe it possible. And His "Word seems 
clearly to teach that these things are the consequences 
of the "Fall." . 



GOD AND CREATION; OR, CAUSE AND EFFECT. 73 

As this stream of instructive or creative life leaves the 
Heavenly Father, it is, of course, pure. And, coming 
from the Divine Mind, it must be goodness and truth in 
Divine Feelings and Thoughts. Therefore, its first recep- 
tion must be into angelic minds nearest the Lord — into 
wills and understandings of the first order. And the 
Lord, from His Jnfinite prescience, must mercifully adapt 
this instruction to their finite capacities. These celestial 
angels, in imparting these elements of mental life, this 
food for souls, to the thoughts and feelings of their pupils, 
must, in order to adapt it to their states, impart to it 
something of the quality of their own affections. And 
these new recipients must, by their qualities, attemper 
the mental stream to the minds next below them. And 
thus the stream must flow on and spread around each 
sphere or state of life, imparting to it something of its 
own peculiarity of thought and feeling as it gives the 
mental food to the neighbor ; each one receiving it ac- 
cording to his state, until, from the general sphere of hu- 
manity on earth and the particular sphere of each indi- 
vidual, it flows on down into the irrational though 
animate creation, below man ; carrying with it, into the 
animals, all man's various qualities of temper, disposition, 
and propensity, both good and bad. From thence it 
flows down into the inanimate creation, through the 
vegetable into the mineral kingdom, Here it reaches 
the basis of all creative action — the common ground for 
the beginning of the creation of all organic life. 

JSTow, does any one, in reading this chapter, doubt the 
truth of this law and order of creation ? Let him read 
understandingly the preceding chapters, and he will come 
to the conclusion that, the first chapter being true, the 
second must be true also, and that the truth of the third 



74 GOD AND CREATION I OK, CAUSE AND EFFECT, 



and fourth follows as a matter of course ; and then he 
will see that the truth of this chapter is a necessary se- 
quence of the whole ; that they all stand in their order, 
upon the eternal laws of God, as read in Revelation and 
Nature; that there is no breaking the chain of argu- 
ment ; that we must adopt the whole or none. If the 
premises laid down in the first chapter be false, then we 
are afloat upon the broad ocean of uncertainty, amid all 
its shoals and whirlpools, without a compass or chart. 
No pure Heavenly Father, and no Divine Revelation, that 
can enter the rational faculty and commend themselves 
to the human heart. O God of Light and Life, save us 
from this wreck. " Open Thou mine eyes, that I may 
behold wondrous things out of thy law." (Ps. cxix, 18.) 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SCIENCE OE COEEESPONDENCES : THE KEY TO THE 
HUMAN MIND. 

This science not only shows the relation between the 
literal and spiritual senses of the Word, but also between 
the body and the soul of man. By means of it, we look 
through the literal sense of Scripture, in all its myste- 
ries, and obtain a rational knowledge of the spiritual 
sense ; and then, by means of this knowledge, we gain a 
clear understanding of the design and use of the literal 
sense ; and, thus, a confirmation of the truth of the Word 
is established. So, also, we may look, by correspondence 
and the light of the Word, up through our physical sys- 
tem, to our spiritual being, and obtain a rational knowl- 
edge of the soul, and then, by means of this knowledge, 
we may gain a clear understanding of the design and use 
of the material body, and how to treat it. 

In seeking this view of the spiritual sense of the Word, 
our efforts will be much facilitated, by keeping in mind 
the fact, that we are seeking, solely, a knowledge of Grod 
and of man, for the purposes of human salvation ; that 
the Word is given for no other purpose. It is, therefore, 
filled with Divine thoughts and feelings, and with sym- 



76 THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

bols of human thoughts and feelings, all clothed in human 
language, and adapted, by correspondences, to the under- 
standings of men. 

These Divine thoughts and feelings are elements of 
life for our souls, designed for our understandings and 
wills. They come, in practical lessons of Divine "Wisdom, 
for the improvement of the mind, and the action of the 
body, always presenting, first and foremost, as the stan- 
dard of all excellence, the qualities of the Great Jehovah, 
that we may know good from evil, truth from falsity, and 
see where we stand, and, the "Way of Life. 

In all this we look above the bodies of men and their 
acts, to the souls and their intentions : we look, by cor- 
respondences, through the things of this world and their 
history, to the thoughts and feelings, the elements and 
actions of the mind and their history ; and thence, down 
to our outward duties ; so that all Sacred Scripture be- 
comes profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and in- 
struction in righteousness. 

But most men have been so long looking down to mat- 
ter and natural things, instead of up to mind and spiritual 
things, that they do not know themselves. The soul of 
man is the great enigma of the age. Of its substance, 
quality, life, and destiny, the natural man has no rational 
thought. But an intense and growing anxiety is being 
felt on the subject, and will continue to increase until the 
problem is solved. The only key to its solution, for men 
in this world, is the science of correspondences : and the 
only Light which presents it is the spiritual sense of the 
Word. And, when we find this light, it is the Lord 
coming to judgment. If we open our hearts to receive 
Him, He will show us what and where we are, and whither 
we are tending. 



THE SCIENCE OF COEEESPONDENCES. 77 

But in this feverish and sensual age concerning spir- 
itual things, most inquirers, unfortunately, are not looking 
to the Word for a knowledge of the soul and its destiny ; 
the darkness of the literal sense, without the spiritual, has 
turned them away from it. And thousands are exceed- 
ingly active in searching for light amid the selfish, un- 
settled opinions of frail, finite beings, through crude and 
contradictory manifestations, made to their natural senses ; 
they relying upon their own sagacity to distinguish truth 
from falsity. But, when wayward humanity shall have 
fully run its wild and fruitless career after spiritual 
knowledge, amid the trash of human weakness and pre- 
sumption, it will come to the Holy Word, in its spirit 
and life. 

And that career must be short ; for it is enveloped in 
mystery. And the present age of free thought, and pro- 
gressive intelligence, cannot long be satisfied with dark- 
ness, while the very spirit which moves man demands a 
reason for everything it is asked to believe. And this 
demand extends throughout every department of science 
and knowledge. 

Religion, therefore, is called up, before the chair of 
universal Intelligence, to answer for her faith and doings. 
And, even the Holy "Word itself, is brought upon the 
stand to give testimony to the intelligibleness of its teach- 
ings. And according to the answers they give, before 
this tribunal, they stand or fall in the public estimation. 
It is only as they give clear and cogent reasons for every 
principle they teach, that they can live in generations 
which are to come. 

' And though most of the minds who are seeking spir- 
itual knowledge are so natural that spiritual things are 
not readily seen, yet, mystery is ceasing to satisfy them ; 



78 THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

and they are demanding a reason, suited to their natural 
judgment. And, as doubts and darkness rest upon all 
their experiments, as well as upon the meaning of the 
"Word, therefore, universal skepticism stares them in the 
face. 

All this but increases the anxiety for a rational view 
of the nature and laws of man's spiritual being ; and 
many minds are becoming ripe for the reception of any- 
thing that will give them the desired light. The Word, 
in the letter — as well as everything else — has failed to do 
it for them. And strong and honest minds are eager for 
wisdom. They feel themselves afloat upon the ocean of 
uncertainty, without a pilot. Left to wander in the mazes 
of helpless unbelief : — a mental world without a God ! A 
universe without a sun ! 

But this is the very preparation of mind necessary for 
the reception of true light. Let all such come, by the 
science of correspondences, to the Holy Word, for its 
spiritual light, and the demands of their reason and their 
heart will be satisfied. Let us, then, ever approach it, 
with a prayerful desire to be taught of the Lord. 

And first, in order to establish well in our mind the 
complete distinction between spiritual and natural sub- 
stances, or between mind and matter, and their corre- 
spondences, we will commence with ourselves. "We will 
look into our own spiritual or mental world, and see what 
we are, besides the material body, and what the corre- 
spondence is between our material and mental beings, and 
how far, and for what purpose, matter belongs to us. For 
we must look into our own minds to understand the 
Word ; and the organs of the body are often brought up 
to illustrate things of the soul. And, as we learn to see 
the value of the soul above that of the body, we shall fix 



THE SCIENCE OF COEEESPONDENCES. 79 

a similar value to the spiritual history of the Word above 
that of the letter. 

Now, strictly speaking, we are substantial spiritual 
beings, not material. We have each an organized spir- 
itual body, of full human form, filling every part of the 
material body, and which was created and formed with it, 
and within it. This spiritual body is composed of spiritual 
and eternal substances and is, therefore, indestructible ; 
while the material body is subjected to the constant 
changes common to all matter ; never remaining the 
same body even from one day to another ; but is con- 
stantly being worn out, and wasted by time and action, 
and supplied with food, until it is finally put off by age, 
sickness, or violence ; leaving the spiritual body complete 
and unharmed by what we call death. 

Thus Paul says, " There is a natural body and there 
IS a spiritual body ;" not that there will be a spiritual 
body made of the natural. He definitely teaches that we 
have them both, while we live in the world, when he says, 
" For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not 
made with hands eternal in the heavens." Here we learn 
that we have, not only an earthly house or material body 
made with hands, or fed with hands from infancy, and 
which will dissolve, but also a building of God, or spirit- 
ual body, not made with hands, but by the Lord ; and 
that, at the dissolution of the earthly house, we shall 
retain the spiritual body and have it forever. In confir- 
mation of this, Paul says, again, " We, that are in this 
tabernacle do groan, being burdened ; not for that we 
would be unclothed." Here he considers the material 
body mere clothing. But Paul has been much misunder- 
stood. When he says, " We shall all be changed, in the 



80 THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

twinkling of an eye," lie does not mean, by " We" the 
natural bodies, but the souls that dwell in them ; and that 
these souls will be changed, only, to a higher mode of 
existence, at the putting off of the material body. For 
the word " We" when he says ■" We shall all be changed," 
means precisely what it does when he says, " We that are 
in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened." 

And, that men go into the spiritual world, at the death 
of the body, with the spiritual bodies, we know by the 
appearance of the angel whom John on Patmos was going 
to worship, but who said, " See thou do it not, for I am 
of thy brethren the prophets ; " and by the appearance of 
Moses and Elias, at the transfiguration of the Lord, whom 
Peter, James, and John, saw and talked with. They had 
left their material bodies in this world ; and yet, they 
were men, with bodies. 

Now, the separation of the spiritual body from the 
natural, at death, is " The resurrection from the dead. 79 
Therefore, Paul says, " But some man will say, How are 
the dead raised up ? and with what body do they come ? 
Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except 
it die : and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that 
body that shall be." Thus, as the green blade in its life 
comes up from the wheat" that is sown, leaving the kernel 
to " return to the dust as it was," so the living, spiritual 
body rises from the material body ; leaving the latter to 
decompose. True, Paul says, " This corruptible must put 
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortal- 
ity ; " but when he says, " put on," he does not mean 
" changed into ; " for he expressly says that " flesh and 
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth 
corruption inherit incorruption." He simply means by 
that, we put off the corruptible and mortal, and live in 



THE SCIENCE OF COKEESPONDENCES. 81 

.ne incorruptible and immortal. And the Lord teaches 
the same resurrection, in Mark, when He says, " And as 
touching the dead, that they rise : have ye not read in the 
book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, 
I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
God of Jacob ? He is not the God of the dead, but the 
God of the living." Thus teaching that their resurrection 
had already taken place. 

Here we see that the soul or the spiritual body, with 
the life, is the man. The material body is merely its rep- 
resentative ; and there is a perfect correspondence between 
the natural body and the spiritual body ; the same as 
there is between the literal and the spiritual senses of the 
"Word. And though these material bodies are not our 
real selves, but only the clothing we wear in this world, 
yet we cannot, here, approach one another sensibly except 
through the medium of this clothing. So we cannot ap- 
proach the spiritual light of the "Word, with our spiritual 
being, except through the medium of our natural senses, 
by reading or hearing the literal sense of the Word, which 
is the body of the spiritual sense, and which, by corre- 
spondence, enables us to understand it. 

It is true the literal sense of the "Word has life ; but it 
is of, and from, the spiritual sense. So the material body 
of a man has life, but it is of, and from, the spiritual body, 
which receives it from the Lord. Thus we feel one an- 
other's hands, when we clasp them ; but the life and sen- 
sation are all in, and from, the spiritual hands which infill 
them. It is not the natural eye which sees, nor,the natu- 
ral ear that hears. They are mere instruments by which 
the soul has communion with the material world. And 
so with all the organs of the body. 

God and men, then, are spiritual beings, of spiritual 
4* 



82 THE SCIENCE 'OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

substance ; all their thoughts and feelings belong to the 
spiritual world. Consequently, God's "Word is a spiritual 
book, coming from a spiritual Fountain. It treats of spir- 
itual things ; of the Great Jehovah, and of angels, and 
men's souls ; of heaven and hell, of good spirits and bad 
ones. None of these things are material. And yet, they 
are mentioned as being substance with form : God, angels, 
and spirits, having heads and bodies, with all their organs. 
And the natural man might suppose they referred to ma- 
terial things, when it is the soul's welfare that God espe- 
cially regards, and every word He speaks is to souls, and 
for their benefit. True, He is not unmindful of men's 
bodies, and He abundantly provides for them. But it is 
all for the sake of the soul. 

And the bodies of men, and natural things, are always 
made use of, in the Word, to teach ns the states and con- 
ditions of our souls. Therefore, when the "Word speaks 
of man's being sick or diseased ; naked or clothed ; hun- 
gry or thirsty ; lame or halt ; deaf or dumb ; blind or see- 
ing ; dead or alive ; circumcised or baptized ; or in any 
other condition, we must look, by correspondence, to the 
state of the soul ; for that is the essential teaching. The 
language may refer to the condition of the body also, or 
it may not. Every miracle, lesson, and act of the Lord, 
when in the flesh, toward the sick and afflicted, had, 
besides the effect on their bodies, an effect also on their 
minds, inspiring them with faith and trust in the Lord, 
and with a yielding up to His Will ; and He often told 
them their faith saved them. Not that they were healed, 
simply, because they thought they should be, but because 
they yielded themselves entirely up to the current of the 
Divine Life, and were ready to act with the Divine Im- 
pulse, which gave a new influx, and healthy action to the 



THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 83 

physical system, and crowded off the disease by a univer- 
sal law : for the life of the natural body is through the 
spiritual body. The personal sphere of the Lord was very 
strong, and it often had a powerful influence upon those 
who humbly gave themselves up to it and acted with-it. 
But all these cures were effected, because there was a cor- 
respondence between the state of the soul and that of the 
body ; and the soul was first moved. True, persons were 
sometimes healed when the Lord was not personally pres- 
ent, as in the case of the centurion's servant, but he knew 
his master had gone for the Lord, and the Omnipresent 
God could, nevertheless, reach him ; he being in a state to 
receive His Spirit. And all these lessons are instructions 
to us for the healing of our spiritual diseases, by His spir- 
itual coming. 

^N"ow, because the natural body is not the man, but 
only the tabernacle of clay in which he lives ; and because 
it has no senses of its own, but only the senses of the spir- 
itual body, which act through it, therefore, men are often 
spoken of, in the "Word, as being lame, sick, halt, blind, 
deaf, dumb, dead, buried, asleep, or in darkness, when 
their natural bodies are not so. It is the soul, in such 
cases, that is diseased ; it is the organs of the spiritual 
body that are out of order. Man is lame in his spiritual 
walk, sick with sin, halt in his duty, blind to the truth, 
deaf to the commanjiments, dumb in prayer, dead in tres- 
passes, buried in depravity, asleep as to his religion, and 
in the darkness of error. So he is mentioned as hungering 
and thirsting when his body has enough to eat and drink. 

And if our hand or foot offend, we are commanded to 
cut it off; and, if the eye offend, to pluck it out, because 
it is better to enter into life halt or maimed, or with one 
eye, rather than having two hands, feet, or eyes, to be cast 



84 THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

into hell. This, in the letter alone, is very strange teach- 
ing. Who, without correspondences, regards it, or knows 
what it means ? Is he who loses an eye of the material 
body to have but one eye to his spiritual body ? By such 
reasoning, the destitution of the natural body would 
destroy the soul also, and that would be the end of us. 
The hand or arm, always, in the Word, denotes power. 
Hence it is written, " His right hand and His holy arm 
hath gotten Him the victory." Thy " hand shall lift me 
up." " O God lift up thine hand." 

For our hand to offend is to use the power which God 
gives us in violating His laws, thus making it a wicked 
hand or power. To cut it off, is to cease to use the vile 
hand ; to cast it from us is to resist the propensity to do 
wrong, till we lose the desire. The foot, from its posi- 
tion, in the dust, denotes the lowest and most external 
principle of the mind. For the foot to offend is to indulge 
in low external acts of vice. To cut the vile foot off is to 
give up the evil indulgence ; to cast it from us is to resist 
the temptation, in the Spirit of the Lord, till we loathe 
the evil. Hence the Lord washed the disciples' feet to 
teach them to help one another to keep the natural man 
clean. And He said to Peter, " He that is washed need- 
eth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.' 
Thus showing that corruptions enter through the sinful 
acts of the external man. And that, when once clean, 
there was no danger, if they kept the feet or external man 
clean, or guarded well the grovelling avenues to sin. 

The eye denotes the understanding. For the eye to 
offend is to practise deception, and embrace falsities as 
truths. To pluck this false eye out is to cease to deceive, 
and to stop trying to reason from fallacies. To cast it 
from us is to resist every false thought, and seek for light 



THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 85 

from the Word, and declare it till we love the truth and 
hate the lie. 

And, as to its being better to enter into life halt or 
maimed, or with one eje, rather than having two hands, 
feet, or eyes, to be cast into hell fire ; this means that it is 
better to be good and happy here, and hereafter, in sim- 
ple truth and virtue, though we cannot know everything 
and have all power, rather than, by being wise in our own 
eyes, esteeming ourselves great and worthy of great do- 
minion, while we still remain in the love of self, to thus 
cast ourselves into the fires of envy, jealousy, and malice, 
and all their attendant miseries. 

The selfish man would think himself spiritually maim- 
ed, if his overbearing powers were curtailed. He would 
think himself halt, if his feet were restrained from their 
wonted paths of vice. He would think himself half blind, 
if not allowed to reason falsely and deceive his neighbors. 
And the Lord teaches him, by this scripture, that it is 
better to try to become good and happy, in what he 
imagines would be a cramped and mutilated condition, 
rather than be miserable in the full possession and indul- 
gence of all his selfish powers and wants. 

Besides, we may see that we cannot enter heaven with 
two eyes, or rather, two opposing understandings, one 
dealing in falsities and the other in truths ; we cannot go 
there double-minded, serving two masters ; we must have 
an eye single to the Lord or the Truth. Nor can we go 
there with two hands, or opposing powers of mind, one 
exercised in things evil, and the other in things good. 
~Nor with two feet, or opposing external principles, one 
practising virtues and the other indulging in vices. We 
can go there only in singleness of heart, mind, and action ; 
led and governed by the Lord. 



86 THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES. 

Thus we may see that the science of correspondences is 
the key to our own spiritual being, and to the spiritual sense 
of the Word, which shows us what we really are, and for 
what we are designed. And the pursuance of the investi- 
gation will show us the wonderful relation we bear to all 
the Divine teachings, and their peculiar applicability to 
the human race under all circumstances. " Great are Thy 
tender mercies, O Lord : quicken me according to Thy 
judgments." " Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward 
parts : and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to 
know wisdom." 



CHAPTEE VIII. 



THE NECESSITY OF A WEITTEN REVELATION FEOM GOD. 

As Man is a recipient of life from the Lord, and that 
life is substantial Goodness and Truth, received into the 
will jand understanding, giving quality and character to 
his feelings and thoughts, we may readily see that, before 
the " fall," while that will and understanding were un- 
adulterated, and man affectionately and rationally re- 
ceived the Divine Elements, he would heartily respond to 
every new impulse and direction which his opening in- 
tellect and growing desires received from the stream of 
life, which was ever meeting all his progressive, intellec- 
tual wants. For, though he had the elements of a self- 
hood given him as his own, consisting of freedom, ra- 
tionality and desire for knowledge, whereby he could be 
elevated above the beasts, be connected with his God, and 
progress forever ; yet, as he had not abused that self- 
hood, it, of course, w T ould act in perfect unison with the 
Divine Love and "Wisdom ; and therefore, as far as his 
faculties were developed, he would see things in the true 
light, and act with the Lord. In this primeval condition, 
while seeing and feeling from the Lord's Wisdom and 
Love, man would act in the divine current, and do every- 



88 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

thing lie did, almost as intuitively as the bird builds its 
nest. But still, in consequence of his self-hood, it would 
seem to him as though his life were his own, and from 
himself, and that he acted entirely from his own powers. 
And thus it seems to all men. 

But after man had depraved his will and understand- 
ing, and thence had perverted the stream of life, by 
turning it into selfish and disorderly channels, and send- 
ing it out to deceive and rob his neighbors, instead of to 
bless them, his ability to see correctly, by intuition, was 
gone, and he was without any Divine Guide. He could 
now see, feel, and act only from his own selfish states. 
'Nov can we see how it is possible, under such circum- 
stances, for the Lord to change those states for the better, 
or arrest man's downward progress, without giving him a 
written Revelation, or outward Law, for the direction 
and government of his feelings, thoughts, and actions. 
For, though man still had power to act, from the stream 
of life given him, through his internal mind, though that 
stream was perverted ; yet he now needed a Divine Law 
for the external mind, as a rule of action, in which were 
also the elements of life ; a law which the external un- 
derstanding could see to be right, and which offered to 
the mind new powers and influences, as well as new 
duties ; and which explained to him the true principles of 
the life which he had perverted ; a law which would 
teach him how to repent and return to true order ; a law 
wherein man could meet the Divine Sphere of the com- 
mandments as a ground of reaction, whereby his corrupt 
affections and thoughts could be seen, weighed, and ex- 
amined by the light of truth ; and thus he be placed in a 
position of equilibrium, in which, if he pleased, he could 
take hold of the offered power of the Law, and resist his 



THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 89 

evil and false inclinations, and return to true order, life, 
and happiness. For, unless man's external miud could 
meet elements of life in goods and truths from without, 
the internal forces would drive him along blindly in the 
perverted current of life from within, without his having 
either powers of reasoning or of choice ; leaving him a 
mere machine. 

True, there is life from without, filling the universe. 
Its effects would meet his senses in all the things of na- 
ture. And between the influences from within, and those 
from without, he could freely think and act. And when 
the things of nature were not before his senses, he could 
use the knowledge he had of them in his memory, as a 
ground of mental action. But as nature would present to 
him such a confused picture, and as his fallen nature would 
incline his heart to the evils and temptations which he 
there saw, he would be sure to run wild without a Divine 
Law. But when the truths of the "Word are given man 
in a written Law, he has both the sphere of nature and of 
the Word as a basis of action, and he is then free to do 
right or wrong. For whatever may be the character of 
any religious impressions he may have from within, he 
can now reason and decide upon them either from the 
truths of the "Word, or from the things of the memory or 
of nature. 

Moreover, whenever, in the present state of mankind, 
sudden impressions are made upon our mind, we cannot 
always tell whether they are made from within or from 
without, whether by the means of the Holy Spirit or of 
angels, or evil spirits. But no impressions concerning the 
doctrines or duties of life, the character of God and His 
Word, or the destiny of man, should be sanctioned, unless 
they stand the test of the Holy Word. For that Word 



90 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

is the only safe interpreter of the character of all spiritual 
influences or impressions. 

"We have, therefore, rational grounds for concluding 
that the means which the Lord makes use of, through the 
written Word, for man's salvation, are absolutely neces- 
sary, and that men can be reached and saved only by 
those means. Indeed, it looks like an axiom, that what 
Infinite Wisdom does, is infinitely right and necessary, 
and that, therefore, no other course would be right or 
successful. 

From these premises we may see the reason why, since 
the " fall," the Merciful Father has always had a written 
Law for the good of mankind : and just to the extent that 
that Law has been respected and obeyed, the people have 
been civil, orderly, and virtuous. The reason is, they 
have had in this Law a Divine and powerful plane of 
spiritual force for their internally received elements of 
life to act against, and be directed by, so as to give the 
freedom of man the power of choice, and without which 
those elements must have gone out from fallen man in 
wild disorder. For, having flowed into a perverted and 
depraved sphere, they must go out with the character of 
that sphere, the same as pure light, flowing through a 
discolored lens, carries along the color, and is also changed 
in its course and influence. And as God is dealing with 
free and rational beings, and works by means, we see not 
how any powers from within can ever change fallen man 
without the written Law. Are we cited to wonderful 
instances of influence of the Spirit upon men, and to the 
still small voice : it must be remembered that those men 
all had some knowledge of the Divine Law ; some educa- 
tion of what was right and what was wrong, as a ground 
of reaction, whereby the Spirit could return upon the con- 



THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 91 

science and perform its work of repentance upon a free 
mind. Are we told that the Spirit sometimes moves, to 
some extent, the heathen heart which has never known 
the Divine Law ? There are no tribes of men, however 
low, that have not, by tradition, some knowledge of what 
is right and just — some rule founded, to some extent, on 
the Divine Law, and which has, at some time, been given 
by God, in language, for the guidance of men. We can 
come to no other rational conclusion from the facts before us. 

Now, because the revealed "Word is necessary to all 
success in virtue and true knowledge, we may see the 
reason of the entire failure of all the various experiments 
of men, for the elevation of society by their efforts to gain 
a knowledge of spiritual things, and to build up a religion 
from internal influences, and loose impressions and sugges- 
tions of principles more in agreement with their own de- 
praved desires, and which they consider superior to, and 
at variance with, the Bible. They therefore lay the 
Sacred Scriptures aside as erroneous. Thus they aim a 
blow at the very root of all that is virtuous and heavenly 
in families and societies; the bitter rewards of which 
many are reaping ; while some are beginning to see that 
their only hope of purity and peace is a faithful return to 
the Holy Word, and its saving influences ; seeing that 
man can have no other standard than this, to show him 
what is true or false, right or wrong ; no other ground 
to judge of the character and source of his spiritual influ- 
ences or internal impressions. 

Some have thought that the works of God, in nature, 
can teach these things. But as fallen man cannot draw 
true ideas of the nature and character of God and His 
laws from internal feelings and influences alone, so neither 
can he do it with the aid of the works of God. He may 



92 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

examine the tilings of nature, and also the human family 
on earth, as closely as he pleases, but he can draw from 
them no true ideas of God, nor of His qualities, nor 
of man's origin and destiny, without the revealed Word. 
"No matter how strong the man's intellect, nor how active 
and powerful his reasoning faculties, nor how extensive 
his other education, if he is ignorant of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, he can draw from the world and its inhabitants 
none but blind and erroneous ideas of the Being who 
brought them into existence. What, he asks, mean the 
tempests and convulsions, the blights and mildews of 
nature; the raving madness of her animals and wild 
beasts, the poisonous venom of her reptiles, and the 
deceit, murder, and vengeance of her people ? Is this the 
work of an Infinitely Wise and Good Being ? Thus he 
reasons, until he gives up all thought of a Divine Being, 
and rests entirely on nature, as the all in all. 

Thus nothing short of a revealed written Word can 
give fallen man any ideas of God ; and that must reveal 
to us His true qualities, or we shall still be in darkness. 
What, but a perfect blank, does the idea of life amount 
to, if we do not know that it is love and real substance ? 
How long the learned have puzzled themselves over the 
idea of life, and left the subject as dark as they found it 
for the want of knowing that it was something ! But 
when we think of it as Love, we have something tangible 
in our mind ; something that we can. feel to be true. 

In these reflections, we may be assured that we can see 
nothing in its true light, unless our thought reaches back 
to God and rests on First Principles. Without the great 
truth that Love and Wisdom are substance, centered in 
God and flowing into man, enabling him to feel, think, 
and act, men have supposed that thought and feeling 



THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 93 

originate in the brain of the material body. And seeing 
not that life . is received substance, all has been dark. 
And when they look at nature, and behold her teeming 
with life in many varieties, having no idea of the origin, 
substance, and quality of that life, the same darkness 
hangs over nature. And when, by the aid of natural 
science, they geologically search nature for the first mani- 
festations of this life, and find it in the mineral kingdom, 
in the most feeble expressions of effort to produce vegeta- 
bles, it seems to act entirely from the rock as its author. 
They next see it in higher and stronger forms in the vege- 
tables, still stronger in the animals, and highest and 
strongest of all in man. But the higher things seem de- 
pendent upon the lower for life and existence, and all 
upon the cold mineral. Thus nature appears as everything 
— the mother of all. But all is total darkness. They see 
not how lower things can produce the higher ; the cold, 
dead mineral giving forth the beautiful vegetable, with 
delicate texture and velvet flowers; and the inanimate 
vegetable giving forth the living creatures with their five 
senses of animal life ; and man above all with his sublime 
powers of mind resting upon these inferior things for 
origin and sustenance. Alas ! what darkness ! But this 
is the best that nature alone can do. "Without a revealed 
Word from God, man could know nothing higher than 
matter. But with the Holy Word before him, man can 
turn his thoughts from nature up to nature's God, and by 
a right knowledge of Him, in the substance and qualities 
of the Trine, a flood of light pours into his mind. He 
sees the stream of Love, Wisdom, and Power from his 
God flowing down through higher things into lower, until 
it reaches the mineral kingdom as a basis of reaction, and 
returning, produces the successive orders of creation, till 



94 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

it is given back to God in the true love, wisdom, and 
power of human souls. This Trine of Principles is the 
key of knowledge. All knowledge is of and from God. 
It is He that breaks the seals and opens the Book ; and 
all by this key to a knowledge of His own qualities. 
From these qualities we are to judge of the qualities of 
everything, seeing them more feebly or more fully ex- 
pressed in some things than in others; and either in 
direct or in inverted order. 

Thus we have, in the revealed Word, the elements 
of spiritual life; and from that "Word they must be 
applied to our souls. And as they are principles of truth 
and goodness for the understandings and wills of men 
therefore they must be understood and loved in order to 
belong to the mind. Thus they are principles that men 
can offer, one to another, through their thoughts, feelings, 
words, and actions. But we do not lose a truth if another 
receives it from us and lives it. It is an endless principle. 
It may be in thousands of minds at the same time, uniting 
them all together and to the Lord, if they love it. The 
reason why the order of the reception of goods and truth 
from the Word is through higher minds into lower, may 
be readily seen from the fact that no mind can know a 
truth until he is taught it, nor can it be his till he loves 
it, nor can he love it till he has practised it. And he 
cannot be taught it without a teacher. Those who have 
the truth must teach it to those who have it not. And 
when we reflect upon the fact that these Divine Elements 
are for the nourishment and growth of the souls of men, 
we are ready to ask ourselves, how mind can grow with- 
out something for the understanding to receive, and the 
will to embrace — something to supply the inquiring wants 
of the reasoning faculties and the desires of the heart ? 



THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE KEVELATION. 95 

and also what has made the mind of the man greater than 
that of the infant, unless it be what he has received ; and 
what has made the difference between the good man arid 
the bad one, except the goodness and truth with which 
one has been fed, and the evils and falsities which have 
fed the other ? And seeing clearly this plain law of men- 
tal growth by means of the revealed "Word, the argument 
for the necessity of the Word comes home with great 
force, particularly when we consider the fact that these 
goods and truths, or elements of life, in order to be ration- 
ally received and affectionately embraced so as to expand 
the intellect and nourish the heart, have to be given us in 
laws or rules of action, which the mind can understand, 
see the use of, and must practise, before it can really 
know their value, love them, and appropriate them to the 
soul. Thus God gives His goodness and truth for our souls 
in commandments and rules, for the government of our 
feelings, thoughts, and actions. These Words, he says, 
are spirit and life ; and that if we would enter into life, 
we must keep the commandments. And we enter into 
life, or become living, when the life of the commandments 
enters into us. 

Now, when men see that they were made to act, and 
that the goods and truths of the Word are rules of 
action, as well as elements of life, and cannot be appro- 
priated to the mind but by practising them, and that God 
is the Fountain of Truth, they will then see that man 
never could have had them without being taught them 
from God in language. Hence the absolute necessity of 
the written Word. It was, therefore, generally spoken 
in an audible voice, in the ears of most of the prophets, 
and heard and recorded by them verbatim, as given by 
the Lord. Thus they say many times over, "the Word 



96 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

of the Lord came unto me, saying." So the voice of the 
Lord was heard by Adam in the garden. True, some of 
the prophets, aud more especially Ezekiel and John, saw 
some future events in visions. This is because the 
thoughts of the Lord, who knows all things, can so flow 
into a human mind that is humble, confiding, and open 
to receive them, as to show that mind, for the time being, 
future things, when God desires it. Thus John saw and 
recorded the things mentioned in the Apocalypse, and Eze- 
kiel saw a certain state of the " House of Israel," or Jewish 
Church, in his vision of dry bones. (Ezek. xxxvii, 1-14.) 

Before the " fall," God taught men from His Book of 
Nature, by the Law of Analogy. Therein was a Divine 
Speech, a living language, as will be shown in the follow- 
ing chapters. . And God therein taught man, intuitively, 
the great principles and laws of life ; or man, by the Di- 
vine Truth, saw them in their true light. But, during 
the long process of the fall, man, by his depravity, lost 
the ability to read the laws of life in the Book of Nature. 
Indeed, Nature herself became changed, and had appar- 
ently a confused and uncertain speech ; the Divine Law 
of Analogy became above man's reach ; his spirituality 
was gone ; and God gave him, through Moses, the writ- 
ten Law in man's own language, containing natural good- 
ness and truth, suited to man's state, but filled also with 
spiritual goodness and truth to be seen by analogy. And 
since then, no people on the earth have been without some 
truths, however dim, drawn from this written Law, and 
handed down through all time. For no fallen soul can exist 
without something from the Lord, as a rule of action, that 
would either elevate it or check its evils, if it would re- 
gard it ; and which it is free to do or not ; and the Lord, 
from His very qualities, must come to all men with bless- 



THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 97 

ings adapted to their states ; so that those of very little 
light, who regard it, will be better off in the next life than 
those of much light, who disregard it. 

The laws of true life were given, in the command- 
ments, on Mount Sinai ; and were spread out and adapted 
to men's various states throughout the Word. They con- 
tain truths spiritual, and truths natural, and even celes- 
tial. They are adapted to the whole mind, internal and 
external, suited to men and angels, to earth and heaven, 
and even to hell. They reach men in every state and 
condition of existence. Without them, no thought of 
mental being, no thought of a rational soul, no thought 
of a future life, no thought of anything higher than mat- 
ter, could have ever again entered even the imagination 
of man, after he had fallen into mere naturalism. And 
though man is the Lord's rational, intelligent being, made 
to know His God, and to love Him, and exist forever — 
made to learn and rationally to understand spiritual 
things ; yet these things, nothing short of the Most High 
God could teach. And the instruction had to be given to 
man, in signs of ideas that he could understand. It, 
therefore, had to be given in a written language, common 
to the race ; a language more than internally spoken to 
his consciousness ; it had to be addressed to his outward 
senses, in audible phrases, which he could speak and hear 
spoken, understand, and obey. 

And this Truth of the written Word has now become 
the common medium of spiritual instruction and life to 
mankind. And all persons, either in this world or the 
other, who teach truths concerning the nature of God or 
of man, of regeneration or degeneration, of heaven or of 
hell, must obtain those truths, either directly or by tradi- 
tion, from this Holy Word. 
5 



98 THE NECESSITY OF A DIVINE REVELATION. 

Herein God has given His Divine Truths a practical 
form, in words suited to all the various states and condi- 
tions of men, angels, and spirits, from the highest to the 
lowest. These truths are expressed in the best possible 
form, because given by the Lord Himself. This Holy 
Word, therefore, is The Mediator between the otherwise 
unapproachable Jehovah and man. Even in the personal 
presence of Jesus Christ, or God manifest, this Holy 
Word was the Great Mediator. He spoke through it, 
breathed forth its Holy Spirit, and wrought miracles by 
its power. God Himself lives in it, and by its Wisdom 
He created the universe ; and it is now spirit and life to 
all the universe of things. And, therefore, no man, angel, 
or spirit, either in the flesh or out of it, is a reliable 
teacher of Divine Truth, who does not teach it from this 
Divine Revelation. 

This is a fact, important to be known and regarded, at 
the present day, that men may not look, for spiritual wis- 
dom, to broken cisterns that hold no water ; that the tra- 
ditions of men may not, in the coming age of spiritual 
commotion, make the commandments of God of none 
effect. For the written Word is the Great Rock of 
Ages, and no new things can ever supplant, or overreach, 
the Eternal Wisdom of the Great Jehovah, revealed to 
man for his spiritual life both here and hereafter. 

Let us, then, come to it like little children to their 
father's table, for it is Divine food for human souls. 
Therefore Jeremiah saith to the Lord, " Thy Words were 
found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me 
the joy and rejoicing of my heart ; for I am called by Thy 
name, O Lord God of hosts." (Jer. xv, 16.) And David 
says, " The Words of the Lord are pure Words ; as silver 
tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 

We are told, in the Holy Word, that God is angr y, 
and that He is Love ; that He is wrathful, and kind ; 
revengeful, and merciful ; provokable, and unchange- 
able ; that He repents, and repents not ; that He loved 
Jacob, and hated Esau, and that He is no respecter of 
persons / but maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on 
the good, and sendeth His rain upon the just and the 
unjust ; that He curses people, and punishes them ; and 
that He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil, and 
that His tender mercies are over all His works ; that He 
forms the light, and creates darkness ; makes peace, and 
creates evil. He says, " Is there evil in the city, and I 
have not done it \ " thus plainly indicating that He does 
all the evil in the city. And to complete the apparently 
decided fatality of all things, the foreknowledge of God 
has been understood by some to pre-order and fix fast 
everything that occurs, whether of thought, feeling, or 
action ; and to sustain this view, we are often cited to 
the Epistle to the Romans : " Whom He did foreknow, 
He also did predestinate." . . . " Whom He did pre- 
destinate, them He also called : and whom He called, 



100 THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 

them He also justified : and whom He justified, them He 
also glorified." " Therefore hath He mercy on whom 
He will have mercy ; and whom He will He hardeneth ; " 
that He " maketh one vessel to honor and another to dis- 
honor." 

Men have two ways of receiving ideas — by appear- 
ances, and by realities. And a glance at the Key of 
First Principles, will very soon decide which of the above 
characters of God must be the real, and which the appar- 
ent. And as the Principles which constitute this Key 
are Eternal Axioms, which all Christians must admit, 
they would throw much light upon all the doctrines of 
the Word, by distinguishing between the apparent and 
the real, if men would receive and use them. For there 
is a common consent and agreement, among all Chris- 
tians, to the truth of the first general view of the doc- 
trines of the Scriptures, which teaches that there is an 
Infinite and Eternal Being who created all things ; that 
the Bible is His revealed Word ; that in Him is a Trinity, 
called Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; that He made all 
things good ; that man fell into depravity, and imparted 
his sinful nature to his offspring ; that, to save the fallen 
world, God was manifest in the flesh, and thereby opened 
up a way of salvation ; that, in order to be saved, man 
must be regenerated by the Spirit of God ; that, after 
death, we rise and go into the spiritual world, and there 
are judged, and are happy if regenerated, and unhappy 
if unregenerated. These great leading doctrines God, in 
His Holy Word, simply and clearly teaches : and, as here 
stated, they are indisputably true to the very letter, and 
the Christian world generally acknowledge them as here 
expressed. And yet those very people are divided into 
hundreds of different sects, and are at great variance 



THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 101 

upon the character and quality of these doctrines. They 
know them alike by outward terms, but not by essential 
principles. Thus they disagree as to what each doctrine 
is in itself, and are wavering in mystery, between the 
apparent and the real. But, by the Key of First Princi- 
ples, as expressed in Chapter I, light may be thrown 
upon all the doctrines, the apparent may be distinguished 
from the real, and all may be brought together in har- 
mony, and the watchmen see eye to eye. 

Now, all things have their appearances and their reali- 
ties. There is truth as it appears, and truth as it is ; the 
literal sense of the Word as it appears, and that sense as 
it is ; nature as it appears, and nature as it is ; God as 
He appears, in His Word and works, and God as He is. 
And even the appearances are various, depending alto- 
gether upon the states of the observers. 

Nature and its laws do not appear to the scholar as 
they do to the savage. The same forms of things fall 
upon the eyes of both, but they suggest very different 
ideas. The savage sees them only by the light of the 
sun ; the scholar has the additional light of science. All 
persons, at first, look at nature as it appears. But, as 
their minds are educated, they lose thought of the ap- 
pearance and see things more as they are, rising, as they 
progress, from the surface view to scientific laws. 

And as with God's works, so with His Word ; here 
too is the apparent and the real. When wicked men first 
turn their thoughts seriously toward moral and religious 
things, they see in the Word only the low appearances 
of God's character. Each man sees Him according to 
his state ; the angry man as angry ; the froward, as fro- 
ward ; the upright man as upright ; the pure in heart, as 
pure. Thus He seems to come, " all things to all men." 



102 TEE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 

!Now it is much better that man should believe the 
apparently hard things that are written of God than not 
believe anything. When Galileo presented the solar sys- 
tem to men, the world, as to astronomy, was in the shade 
of appearance, believing that the sun daily revolved 
around the earth. But this was much better than no 
thought on the subject. It was far above what any animal 
could think. And though only an appearance, yet it was 
truth to those who could see no higher. And, as such 
minds are developed by science, they will see through 
the appearance to the reality. And so of spiritual things. 
We must first have them by appearances. Men are of all 
qualities, from infernal to heavenly. And God's Holy 
Word, in its Infinity, is adapted to all, from the highest to 
the lowest. In it, God comes to men with a disposition 
and passions apparently like their own ; and of every 
shade of character, from the most furious and wrathful to 
the most gentle and merciful. And without so coming 
He could not reach all minds. For the elements of one 
mind cannot flow into another by outward instructions, 
without a medium or language for ideas adaj^ted to their 
states. That medium, for the lowest and most vile peo- 
ple, is the " terror of the Law " in the literal and appar- 
ent sense. 

Now it is much better that the Lord should appear to 
a very wicked, perverse, and ignorant people as an al- 
mighty, wrathful, vengeance-taking God, than as all- 
merciful and forgiving. For, as they are taught from 
infancy to fear this terrible Eeing, this character has a 
powerful influence over their conduct, in restraining them 
from vice. Such [in apparent idea of God can reach and 
influence them when a real one coirid not be seen, and 
would not be feared if it could be seen. And all the 



THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 103 

scripture which so represents God is mercifully given for 
the use and benefit of all such barbarous and cruel minds. 
The world has had its ages of such benighted ignorance 
and tyranny. And it has its nations now, to whom such 
teachings are a blessing. 

And, in the ages of great sin and ignorance, even a lake 
of fire and brimstone, apparently prepared by the Lord to 
torment wicked souls in forever, has been a blessing, just 
so far as it has restrained from sin, held evils in check, and 
caused men to keep the commandments. And with a peo- 
ple in a state of blind superstition, and fear of an awful 
unknown Power, this dreadful doctrine would have that 
influence, when nothing else would do it. And now, 
when we see the real, spiritual truth of this doctrine, and 
find that that burning lake is no fiction, but a dreadful 
reality, coming not from God, but from the transgression 
of His laws, and located in our own souls, if we are evil, 
and that it will torment us with the fires of hatred, re- 
venge, jealousy, and ill will forever, unless removed by 
repentance and a good life ; I say, when we see this, the 
same Holy Scripture may bless us also, and save our souls. 

Thus we see that the Infinite Word of God is suited to 
all ages of the world and to all peoples : not only to the 
patriarchs, the Israelites, and the first Christians, but also 
to those of the ISTew Jerusalem, the glorious light of which 
is now dawning upon the world ; and if we apply it to 
our hearts and lives, it will lead our souls into the para- 
dise of God. 

But, it is asked, Is not this using deception, by mak- 
ing God to appear what He is not ? When those scrip- 
ures are properly considered, there will be seen nothing 
false in their expressions. It is not a falsity that the sun 
appears to revolve round the earth, or the grass to look 



104 THE BEAL AND THE APPAKENT. 

green, or the snow white. These things are truths to a 
mind that can look no higher, though science speaks fur- 
ther to others. Every man must judge of things accord- 
ing to his state. All men must think and judge of God, 
not as He is, in His Infinity, but as He manifests Him- 
self to them in His Word. 

The bad man, therefore, sees God in the apparent 
truth of His Word as acting against thieves, murderers, 
and robbers, for breaking His Law, just as he himself 
would act against them if they had trespassed against 
him. He looks upon the Law as just. And when cir- 
cumstances bring him under the influence of God's Spirit, 
he is afraid to break the Law. And upon this ground he 
can commence the work of repentance and regeneration, 
when otherwise he could not be reached. 

And when it is seen that all the power in man to do 
either right or wrong is not man's power, but God's, con- 
stantly given him, and that man is free to use it, either 
for good or for evil, the apparent truth is that God hard- 
ens men's hearts, and blinds their eyes, and creates their 
evils, and torments them, and sends them to hell, because 
it is done through God's power. In this apparent light 
it is that God, in order to reach the low states of the 
wicked, is said in Scripture to do these things : whereas 
the reality is that men, by the abuse of God's j>ower and 
their own freedom, run into vice and iniquity. Thus, by 
sin, they harden their own hearts, blind their own eyes, 
create their. own evils, torment themselves, and send them- 
selves to hell, when they have full power and privilege 
given them to take the other course. Indeed, the human 
heart is not unconscious of its freedom and responsibility 
to the truth. 

And as to the foreknowledge of God, binding the des- 



THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 105 

tinies of men to an unalterable course of life, this is also 
apparent. God, being Infinite in Wisdom, must know 
all things at once. Foreknowledge with Him, therefore, 
must be the same as afterknowledge, and thus does not 
interfere with the freedom of man. It would be absurd 
to suppose that the knowledge we of this age have of the 
American Eevolution was the means of its success, or was 
in any way connected with it. But it has just as much 
to do with it as our foreknowledge would have with the 
laying of the Atlantic cable, it we could see that it would 
be successfully done in two years. Simple knowledge of 
events, whether present, past, or future, does not neces- 
sarily affect the events at all. 

God made man free, and therefore His knowledge of 
his acts cannot affect or destroy that freedom. For, 
though He knew that a man would sin, yet He also knew 
that he could do better, or else His commandments are 
not binding. And the declaration, " Whom He did fore- 
know He also did predestinate," does not at all affect the 
matter, or reach man's freedom. For predestination is 
only the decision of a general law, showing that certain 
effects must follow certain causes ; that misery must fol- 
low the transgression of the laws of either moral or phys- 
ical life, and happiness must be the result of obedience, so 
that the predestination rests entirely upon the life lived. 
The freedom of man, therefore, is the grand pivot upon 
which he turns either to the right hand or to the left, and 
thus lie determines his own destiny. 

Now, there are everywhere, throughout the entire 
Word and works of God, two scenes, the apparent and 
the real. The Lord's written language always paints two 
scenes, or one scene with two sides — an inside and an 
outside. It is declared in Scripture that the Word is 
5* 



106 THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 

" written within and on the back side." Now, we cannot 
see the beauty of the outside scene, unless it be made 
transparent by the light which shines upon the inside ; 
giving us, at the same time, a view of the inside picture 
in and through the outside one, by analogy. The outside 
picture or literal sense is seen as a lower light, like moon- 
light compared with the real light. This lower light 
gives many simple and plain commandments, and teaches 
many important duties ; and it directs the soul to higher 
things. 

This is all the light man can at first bear from the 
Holy Word. But, in man's fallen state, this light cannot 
bring out the clear, distinct features and qualities of even 
the outside picture, so as to show its true designs, and its 
full symmetry and beauty. Indeed, as we examine it 
closely in that light only, we perceive much irregularity 
and confusion, and are left in much uncertainty as to 
what the picture, as a whole, is intended to represent. 
But when, by analogy, the inner light shines through it, 
it infills and blends with the lower light, and the two 
scenes become one. The inside scene, with its real light, 
now fills up and supplies all the apparent deficiencies of 
the outside one. All the dark places, deformities, strange 
objects, and mysterious characters, which were scattered 
more or less throughout the whole view, are now brought 
out in new light, and in great perfection and beauty. 

This Divine picture, as seen upon the inside, is a view 
of spiritual things, or things of the mind ; but as seen 
only upon the outside, without the spiritual light, it is a 
view of natural things, as seen in the light of the literal 
sense, which is often only apparent and contradictory. 
Thus the Holy Word has its earth-side and its heaven- 
side, or its apparent and its real ; just as man has his 



THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 107 

earth-side or natural mind and body, and his heaven-side 
or spiritual mind and body. Therefore, when we look at 
the Word upon its earth-side only, and from the earth- 
side of our mind, we do not see the scene as it really is, 
but only as it appears to our selfish, external man. Con- 
sequently, many parts of it appear dark and indistinct ; 
and some portions seem distorted and ugly, with things 
out of place and upside down. And thence we begin to 
doubt its being a scene drawn entirely by a Divine pen- 
cil, in the hand of an Infinite Artist. 

But the difficulty is all in ourselves. The mental po- 
sition or state in which we stand to view it, darkens and 
distorts our vision. The selfish and ignorant mental 
sphere which surrounds us, and through which we are 
looking, gives its own false coloring to the Divine Word. 

But let our understandings be once open to the spir- 
itual sense, so as to let in upon our natural mind, by an- 
alogy, the heavenly light of the Sun of Righteousness, and 
the fogs of our mental earth will soon disappear. And 
then even the earth-side of the Holy Word will be bright 
and beautiful. 

Now, as before suggested, it is precisely so with God's 
Book of Nature, but on a lower plane of thought. The 
untutored savage, standing, as he believes, on the immov- 
able, flat earth in the centre of creation, sees the lamps 
and torches of the heavens revolving around him in pano- 
ramic order ; while a new and sublime scene passes before 
the learned, filling his soul with rational wonder and ad- 
miration. The first of these is a natural scene, viewed 
with the eyes of the body, in natural light. The second 
is a mental scene, viewed "by the eye of the mind in the 
light of science. If, then, the two scenes in God's Book 
of Nature are so completely unlike in aspect, magnitude, 



108 THE REAL AND THE APPARENT. 

and fact ; if the view becomes so vastly changed in beauty 
and grandeur, by the aid of only the light of natural 
science ; what must be the change of scenes in God's 
Book of Kevelation, when we can look above and beyond 
all the clouds of appearances, and view it in the pure 
light of spiritual science — the science of the soul — the 
science of thoughts and feelings — the science of spiritual 
substance, of spiritual heat and light, of spiritual attrac- 
tion and repulsion ; and, indeed, when we can have a 
rational conception and knowledge of the Science of 
Causes, and, to some extent, of God Himself, the Cause 
of all causes, and in the light of His Divine Wisdom can 
look down upon Nature, and see her, with all her appar- 
ent laws of gravitation, motion, heat, light, and produc- 
tion, to be but the mere blind and unconscious effect of 
the higher, the spiritual principles and laws, and as hav- 
ing existence, life, light, and action, only in and by the 
constant influx of these spiritual principles, as they flow 
from the Divine Fountain ? 

To come into the blessed enjoyment of this Spiritual 
Light and Life is now the privilege of fallen humanity. 



CHAPTEE X. 



THE SPIEITUAL AND NATUEAL SENSES OF THE WOED: 
THE SPIEITUAL AND NATUEAL MINDS OF MAN: 
THE ADVENTS OF THE WOED INTO HUMAN MINDS. 

In order to bring out the Spiritual Sense of the 
Word, by analogy, so that its principles may be rationally 
understood, and its importance appreciated, it will be 
necessary, first, to obtain clear ideas of the elements of 
that spiritual sense, and of the way those elements are to 
reach and affect the human mind. For, to look with 
facility for a mental thing that we have not got, we must 
have some idea of its qualities, and also of its application 
to us. Although these qualities have been frequently 
mentioned, yet they should be more specifically consid- 
ered. 

And we will open the subject by stating that the Spir- 
itual Sense of the Word, which men now receive, is the 
Lord, at His second coming : that .He comes as the ele- 
ments of life, and that human minds are, therefore, the 
recipients. 

But as the Word has a natural, as well as a spiritual 
sense, so also the human mind, which receives it, has a 
natural plane, and a spiritual plane, in each of which, 



110 THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 

there is a will and an understanding. These planes are 
called, in Scripture, the internal and the external, or the 
spiritual and the natural man, or mind. By the spiritual 
mind, we have communion with spiritual things ; we think 
of God and heaven, virtue and holiness. By the natural 
mind, we have connection, through the body, with natural 
things, and think of the world, and its attractions. These 
two minds are often at variance ; and we find ourselves 
halting between two opinions ; one mind inviting us to 
sin, and the other prompting us to virtue. And when we 
enter our closet for self-examination, we often sit in judg- 
ment upon the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the natural 
man, and decide against them. Now this cannot be done 
by the same will and understanding that had been astray. 
For the same mind cannot be bad one moment and good 
the next. 

Now, the external mind is first formed and developed 
through the means of the senses ; it is natural and world- 
ly ; the internal mind is afterward formed by religious 
education and heavenly influences. The whole process of 
regeneration is a warfare between these two minds : the 
Spirit of Truth, and heavenly influences, sustaining the 
internal mind, and the temptations of the world, and evil 
influences, exciting the external mind. 

These views of man's mind will introduce us to a true 
idea of the mind of the Lord, while in the flesh ; and 
which we will illustrate by comparing the Infant in the 
manger with another -infant : the first we will call Divine, 
and the second, human. The human infant had a natural 
father ; the Divine had not. The human was a recipient 
of life ; the Divine had self-existent Life, which was the 
Father. Not that God was limited, as to space. He was 
the Omnipresent Life of the universe. And yet there is 



THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. Ill 

nothing unreasonable, or contradictoiy to Divine Laws, in 
.His thus assuming our nature. He, who is the Life of the 
universe, could certainly assume a human mind — the high- 
est order of His creation. And there is no more mystery 
in it than in any other Divine act. It is just what might 
be expected from Infinite Mercy, if He could thereby bet- 
ter reach and influence our free minds. 

This Divine Infant had, from Mary, besides the natural 
body, an external plane of the mind, with a will and un- 
derstanding like those of any other infant. And though 
the self-existent Life of the Father within, was Almighty, 
and One with the universal Life — yet before the assumed 
mind and nature could become a medium of that life to 
man, they must be developed through the natural senses 
like those of any other infant. Thus the assumed natural 
body and mind grew up in the world, with a nature like 
ours, " tempted in all points like as we are." And when 
He spoke from the natural mind, He prayed to the Father, 
spoke of His inferiority to the Father, and said the Father 
within Him did the "Works. But when He spoke from 
His Spiritual Mind, He declared His equality by saying, 
He and the Father were One : that He was the First and 
the Last, with all Power in heaven and on earth. 

Now, the Word clearly teaches, that the object of this 
second coming of the Lord is to establish His kingdom on 
earth : that that kingdom is His church : and that, in 
that kingdom, He is to wipe away all tears from men's 
eyes ; and they are to be His people, and He Himself is 
to be with them, their God. And that church, which He 
is to establish, is denominated the New Jerusalem, which 
is to come down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
bride adorned for her husband. It is declared, in Revela- 
tion, that His name, at His second coming, should be 



112 THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 

called " the Word of God." At His first coming, He 
came as the Word, which was in the beginning with God, 
and which was God ; and that Word was manifest in the 
flesh, and came a Light into the world, or the Truth into 
the human mind. 

Therefore, though He comes again as the mighty God 
— Father, Son and Holy Spirit, — yet, the feature which 
He presents is the Word, or the Spiritual Truths of the 
Sacred Scriptures. The higher elements of His nature 
can only be approached through the Word of Truth — the 
Father can be found only in the Son — the Goodness only 
in the Truth. Therefore, God Himself comes to men, as 
the Word. He came the first time, as the Word, in the 
literal sense. He comes the second time, as the Word, in 
the spiritual sense. True, there was an assumed finite 
nature and body, like ours. But they were not the Lord 
— the Mighty God. They were assumed only as a means 
of bringing the Word, which in the beginning was with 
God and was God, down to man's fallen state ; that we 
might have the Light of Life — the Spirit of Truth — and 
become regenerated. 

But, let us seek a true idea of the Lord's coming and 
going. Where can He, who is Omnipresent, come from, 
or go to ? Certainly nowhere, as to space. There can 
nothing exist, in which He is not, in some sense, present. 
And there can be no coming or going, between the Father 
and the Son, in God. The Father is God's Love, and the 
Son is the Word or Truth, which that Love speaks. They 
are always together. Could they be separated, they would 
both be finite — neither of them would be Omnipresent. 

What, then, is the coming and going of the Most High 
God ? It is simply the receiving and the losing of the 
Love and Wisdom of God, by the mind of man. All 



THE ADVENTS OF THE LOUD. 113 

coming and going, of the Lord, have regard solely to 
the mind of man. The mind, that does not see and love 
the Trnth of the Word, has not God in the understanding 
and affections. Yet, God, by influx,- is really in that per- 
son, as his life, although that man does not receive Him 
into his thoughts and feelings. He is not with him ration- 
ally, affectionately, or reciprocally. Therefore, all God's 
coming and going is into, and out of, the affections of 
man. And this is done by man's loving the Truth, and 
rejecting it. The coming and going is, therefore, all on 
man's part, not at all on God's. Thus, by the " fall," we 
lose God ; that is, we lose the love of Goodness and Truth 
— the Lord is gone from the mind. But, by regenera- 
tion, He comes again — those elements of His nature are 
received into the understanding and will. It is because 
man has freedom and rationality, that God can thus come 
and go. He comes and goes as to nothing else in the 
universe but the mind of man. 

And, when the Lord thus comes and goes, it seems, by 
some of the literal expressions of the Word, as though He 
left the Father and returned to Him. Thus He says, " I 
came forth from the Father, and am come into the world : 
again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." But the 
Father Principle, in God, being the Divine Love, and the 
Son Principle, the Divine Truth or Word, we see that 
from love to man, and a desire to instruct him and bless 
him, God speaks, or gives forth the Truth, from His affec- 
tions. Thus the Son comes forth from the Father. God, 
as Love, sends forth the Truth, or Word, into the world ; 
but the Father comes in it. And when the human mind 
sees and receives that Truth, the Word comes into the 
mental world — the mind of man. And when man de- 
clines into evil and loses his love for that Truth, and deals 



114 , THE ADVENTS OF THE LOED. 

in falsities, that Truth is said to leave the world ; and 
whenever it ascends above man's comprehension, it is said 
to go to the Father. 

That Truth says to man, " Behold, I stand at the door 
and knock." Thus the Lord, as the Word or the Truth, 
wants to get into man's affections. Man's understanding 
is the door to his will. The Truth addresses itself to the 
rational faculty, saying, It is wrong to steal, lie, covet, 
murder. Do you not see that it makes the world miser- 
able and wretched to do these things ? In this, the Lord 
is standing at the door and knocking ; and man's yielding 
his will to that Truth, and obeying it, is what is meant by 
his hearing the Lord's voice and opening the door. And, 
as he loves the Truth, he sups with the Lord, by drinking 
that Truth into his soul. And, as he gives his affections 
to God, acknowledging, with gratitude, the Truth, the 
Lord sups with him. 

Thus the Lord comes into the world — the mental 
world. And thus the Lord, as the "Word, came into the 
assumed mind — the mind received from Mary. For, 
although the Father, or the Divine Love, is the inmost 
Life and Divinity of Jesus Christ, in the flesh ; yet, as we 
have said, the natural plane of the mind, which He re- 
ceived from Mary, was a little empire of itself, as it were ; 
with will and understanding, freedom and rationality, re- 
ceiving life and power, from God, to act, in perfect free- 
dom, the same as any other external human mind. And 
the Truth of the Word, from the Father, met that mind 
from without, in the Bible, the same as it meets any other 
mind. It stood at the understanding, or door of that 
assumed human nature, and knocked. And that nature 
heard the voice, and opened the door ; and the Lord, as 
the Word, came in and supped with that nature, and that 



THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 115 

nature with the Word. Thus that assumed nature re- 
ceived the Truth through the written Word, and acknowl- 
edged the Father as its Author, while the Father was still 
within it. But as the Lord glorified His assumed human- 
ity, by putting off everything finite, received from Mary, 
and putting the Infinite, from the Father, in its place, 
there could be nothing material, or finite, about the Lord, 
when He returned to the Father, or ascended into His 
Divinity, out of the spiritual sight of the disciples. There- 
fore, we are taught, in the Gospel, that that only ascended 
up into heaven which came down from heaven, even the 
Son of Man which is in heaven. The Great Jehovah, 
therefore, did not add to Himself, by the assumption of 
our nature. Infinity cannot be increased. He only 
brought Himself nearer to us, by descending into the 
natural plane of human life, and giving us the Gospel in 
that plane ; and then, by putting off the finite, He re- 
turned into the Infinite with the glorified natural, but 
Infinite, Humanity. And thus, having that Infinite, 
Glorified Humanity, He could give the Holy Spirit, or 
send forth the Comforter, so as to reach fallen man, after 
the ascension. For the literal sense of the Word, like the 
assumed Humanity, is filled with that Spirit ; and through 
that Word comes the Comforter. For, in the ascension, 
the Lord became, more fully, the Spirit and Life of the 
Word to man. 

Thus the Word now becomes the Mediator, to those 
who receive it, the same as the assumed human nature 
became it, at His first coming ; the letters and words an- 
swering to the material body ; the literal sense being in 
man's language, answering to the finite sphere of the as- 
sumed mind ; and the spiritual sense, to the Divine Mind, 
within the assumed. Therefore, after the Lord's ascen- 



116 THE ADVENTS OF THE LOED. 



sion, the written "Word became the obvious Mediator, 
through which the Comforter could be sent, from the 
Father, to man. For the Word, in its Spirit and Life, is 
the Manifested Lord, sending forth the Holy Spirit to all 
who faithfully seek the Lord, in the Goods and Truths of 
that Word. 

But when, in the process of time, " the traditions of 
men had made the commandments of God of none effect," 
and they sought salvation, by faith in the Lord, out of the 
Word, and away off, in some distant aerial region called 
heaven ; then, a true knowledge of the Lord was gradu- 
ally lost ; and it became necessary that He should make a 
Second Coming. This second coining was prophetically 
announced by the Lord Himself. And now, if we bear 
in mind that the Lord's coming or going is, always, into, 
or out of, the mind of man, and nowhere else ; and that it 
is simply receiving or losing the knowledge and love of 
Him ; and that this coming and going must always be the 
Word of Truth and Life into, and out of, man's will and 
understanding, we shall then see that the world of man- 
kind must have lost a true knowledge of Him, and of the 
doctrines of His Word, or He would not have been absent 
from men ; and, therefore, could not have made an advent. 
He could not come where He already was. And, as His 
First Coming, into men's minds, was by a New Birth of 
the Truth, received into their wills, and given forth into 
life, by means of regeneration : so, also, must be His Sec- 
ond Coming. ~No men really knew the Lord, at His first 
coming, but those who received His Spirit of Truth and 
Love, through the new birth. He made no other first 
coming to men than, into their souls. True, before coming 
into their souls, He took our fallen nature, and brought 
the Spirit of Truth and Love, Infinitely into that, by 



THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 117 

Glorification. But this work would do men no good, if 
He could not, thereby, approach and enter their minds. 
Thus His first coming, to men, was into their souls, as the 
"Word of Goodness and Truth, received into their wills 
and understandings, by regeneration. And precisely so, 
is His second coming. 

Now, it is prophetically declared, in Matthew (24th 
chapter), that the world would lose all knowledge of the 
Lord, and become so wicked, in His absence, that no flesh 
could be saved without a second coming. This shows that 
there would come a dark, selfish, unregenerate state of the 
world — a state without a true knowledge of the Lord, or 
of the doctrines of His Word. And it must be into the 
world, in such a state, that the Lord makes His Second 
Coming. For, when the world is not in that dark state, 
the Lord is already there. He is present with every 
mind, where the truths of His Word are seen and loved ; 
and absent from every mind, where they are not. Thus 
He comes, as the lightning cometh out of the East and 
shineth even unto the West. 

Herein we see that the second coming of the Lord is 
like the first. For His first coming, as declared in the 
first chapter of John, was u a Light into the world" He 
came as the Word of Truth, which was in the beginning 
with God and was God. And it is declared, in the Apo- 
calypse, that, at His second coming, His name should be 
called " The Word of God." His first coming was called 
" The true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into 
the world." He is the " Sun of Righteousness " for the 
human soul — the true spiritual light and life of all that 
will receive Him. His second coming is of a higher order 
than the first, and is suited to the scientifically advanced 
state of the world. He comes now, not only as the Liter- 



118 THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 

al, but also the Spiritual Truth of the Word. He now 
comes as the Word in its fulness, opening to us the nature 
of the spiritual world and the laws of our spiritual being, 
by opening the Holy Word, and revealing its Spiritual 
Sense ; and giving a clear, rational, full and consistent 
view of the literal sense, and showing the perfect unity 
and harmony between the two senses. 

Here the reader may ask what we have to say about 
the resurrection and the judgment, which the Bible teaches 
will take place when the Lord shall make His second ad- 
vent ? We answer, This is precisely what the Spiritual 
Sense of the Word is coming for. Many men, in this age, 
are dead in trespasses and sins, who cannot be raised from 
this death, without the coming of the Spiritual Light of 
the Word, to their souls, for Judgment. Nothing else 
will reach their head and their heart. Besides, the Lord 
never comes to men, but in judgment ; and man can never 
be blessed, but in judgment. When man does not need 
judging, the Lord is with him. Therefore judgments are 
mentioned as blessings. The Psalmist sings, " Arise, 
O Lord, judge the earth." " The judgments of the Lord 
are true and righteous altogether." " Let Zion rejoice and 
the daughter of Judah be glad, because of Thy judg- 
ments." " I will praise Thee with righteousness of heart, 
when I shall have learned Thy judgments." " My soul 
breaketh for the longing it hath for Thy judgments, at all 
times." " At midnight I will arise and give thanks, be- 
cause of Thy judgments." " When Thy judgments are 
in the earth the inhabitants will learn righteousness/' 

It is true, there is another feature to the judgment, 
when it says, " the ungodly shall not stand in the judg- 
ment ; " and that God will execute judgment upon the 
wicked. But it does not hurt the wicked to be judged. 



THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 119 

It only decides what they are. It does not punish them. 
Their evils punish them. 

Now, the Judgment is an operation of the Truth in the 
mind of those that are judged. They decide whether 
they will receive the Truth, and go with it ; or reject it, 
and go against it. For, it is written, " The Father judgeth 
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." 
(John v, 22.) And the Lord says, " I judge no man." 
(John viii, 15.) " He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not 
My Words, hath One that judgeth him : the Word that I 
have spoken, the same shall judge him, in the last day." 
(John xii, 48.) 

Thus the Word of the Lord, the Divine Truth, is now 
coming, the second time, with judgment. He came also 
the first time with judgment ; therefore He said, " Now 
is the judgment of this world ; now is the prince of this 
world cast out." Thus redemption, the establishment of 
the church, and all blessings, come with judgment : as it 
is written, " Zion shall be redeemed with judgment." 
" The Lord will establish His kingdom with judgment." 
He will purge Jerusalem with judgment. Here we see 
that the Truth of the commandments is the life and power 
of the judgment, in the mind. So, we are commanded to 
" keep the Lord's judgments." And this keeping of the 
judgments regenerates us, and unites us to the Lord ; for 
He says, " I will betroth thee unto me in judgment." 

Thus the spiritual sense of the Word is coming to raise 
us from the dead, judge us, purify us, fill us with new 
Light and Life, that we may be good and happy. And it 
comes, saying, " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise 
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And, 
in the Spiritual Sense of the Word, He comes " with 
power and great glory : " and if we yield to Him, His 



120 THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD. 

Truth will enter and explore our entire memory, so that 
the sea will give up its dead. Every false principle with- 
in the shores of our knowledge, or understanding, will be 
judged and condemned by the Truth, and freely put 
away. Nor will the Light stop there, but will enter the 
will, and there, Death and Hell will give up the dead that 
are in them / or all the evils of the heart, which cause the 
fires of hell in us to burn with anger, revenge and malice, 
or with any unkindness, will be seen, repented of, and 
given up. And thus the Great Judgment which is prom- 
ised at the Lord's Second Coming, will be performed in 
each mind that receives Him ; all the dead principles of 
that mind, small and great, will stand before the Truth ; 
the sheep and the goats will be separated, the evils and 
falsities rejected, and the whole mind will be brought into 
harmony and peace. Thus we live in the Great Judg- 
ment Day, which will be continued as long as there is any 
one to be judged. Through this judgment, the world is 
to be brought into order, until the Lord, as the Divine 
Truth, reigns in all the people of the Earth ; when " all 
shall know Him, from the least to the greatest." And as 
His coming is through the literal sense of the "Word, into 
the human mind, therefore the " clouds of heaven," in 
which He is to come, are the dark and mysterious appear- 
ances of the literal sense of the "Word as seen in the mind 
— the mental heaven — until illuminated and explained by 
the Spiritual Sense. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

God is the Universal Being, ever, unchangeably the 
same ; His Word is universal Light and Life, ever in, it- 
self, the same ; His Language, therefore, is universal and 
unchangeable in its Divine character and qualities. It 
is the universal language. This is the Language of 
Correspondences. It is the relative law of life between 
the natural and the spiritual worlds. And being the uni- 
versal language, it is the basis of all other languages. 
No language could be formed without it ; and all people 
more or less use it in adulterated forms ; and they see 
some light from it, though they may know nothing of it 
as a science. Now, for a simple illustration : bring to- 
gether men of all nations of the earth, who know nothing 
of one another's languages, but are acquainted with the 
characters of animals ; then bring before them a most 
selfish, greedy, loathsome man, and point to him and 
then point to the hog, and they will all understand the 
man's character better probably than it could be described 
in their several languages. And it will be the same if 
we point to the most licentious, secret, and subtle man, 
and then to the serpent ; or to the most innocent and 
6 



122 THE UNIVEESAL LANGUAGE. 

harmless, and then to the lamb ; or to the most bold, 
strong, and fearless, and then to the lion ; or to the most 
watchful and cautious, even to cruelty against intruders, 
and then to the dog : and so we might go on describing 
various characters, not only by the animals, but also by 
other things ; by the hawk and the dove, the wheat and 
the tares, the olive and the thorn, the vine and the bram- 
ble, by things wholesome and things poisonous. Thus 
the universal language everywhere speaks, either in 
stronger or in fainter accents ; and neither the wisest nor 
the most ignorant could describe a thought or a feeling 
without it or ideas drawn from it. 

At the time when the Lord said, in Genesis, " Behold, 
the people is one, and they have all one language ; " " the 
whole earth was of one language, and of one speech," 
then the people all spoke the universal language. The 
loss of that language, which occurred in building the 
tower of Babel, left men without any sure way of express- 
ing ideas ; and consequently the world has become filled 
with a variety of uncertain languages, no one of which 
any two persons understand alike. This is because the 
language has no roots. True, the language we use pur- 
ports to take root in many others. But even these lan- 
guages themselves, and even those of them which are 
called dead or fixed languages, have, to men, lost their 
roots. Nature is the ground in which all true language 
takes root. And the law of analogy is the only light in 
which that root can be truly seen. We know the dead 
languages are not fluctuating and changing, like those in 
common use. But the reason is they are not used. It is 
to the conservative nature of the Hebrew and Greek lan- 
guages, that we are indebted for so correct a knowledge 
of the Holy Word as we now have. And it is therefore 



THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 123 

of the Divine Providence that they became dead, that 
they could better preserve the Word. Those languages 
still take root in nature. But men, by the loss of the 
science of correspondences, see not where nor how that 
root exists. Hence the uncertainty which hangs over the 
precise meaning of many things in even those languages, 
and particularly in the Holy "Word, where many things 
were written solely for the sake of the spiritual sense, and 
therefore where no shadow of a rational meaning can be 
seen without the law of analogy. 

But the Lord says prophetically, pointing to this age 
of the world, " Then will I turn to the people a pure lan- 
guage, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, 
to serve Him with one consent." Now what can this 
pure language be, in which all the people will call upon 
the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent, 
unless it be a language which will give them all the same 
ideas of God and of His "Word ? and also, unless it be 
that very language which the people had when the whole 
earth was of one speech, and all called upon the name of 
the Lord ? And who, that sees the science of correspond- 
ences and. reads the Word by it, can doubt that the time 
has now come in which that prophecy is being fulfilled, 
when he sees persons of every nation, and kindred, and 
tongue, and people embracing this language, reading the 
Holy Word by it, and as they truly proceed, understand- 
ing it alike ; and beholding therein the Lord Jesus Christ, 
as the one God, whom they can all serve with one con- 
sent? And what other language can the Lord turn to 
the people, than the one they have before had, and which 
He gave them ? He says He will turn to the people a 
pure language. What is a pure language? It is cer- 
tainly something above human. Like its Divine Author 



124 THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

it must be divine, definite, and sure ; the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever. Such is the language of analogy ; 
and such is no other language. Therefore, in the prime- 
val age the people read, in the book of Nature, the history 
of their creation, the character and laws of God, and the 
nature and quality of themselves. There was no truth 
which men needed to know that this book of Nature did 
not teach or indicate. It was to them a Fountain of infi- 
nite wisdom from the Lord. Upon what page soever 
their eyes rested, they saw, as by intuition, the true na- 
ture and character of the scene in its living aspect. So 
clearly did they look through nature up to nature's God, 
that the very names which they gave to the various ob- 
jects of the creation indicated and expressed the peculiar 
quality and character of those objects. Thus it was a 
universal language, understood and read by all alike ; for 
it spoke from life, through qualities clearly indicated by 
their forms and uses. And for a long time the language 
of correspondences was the only language of the earth. 

It was the first written language. When men first 
began to put their thoughts upon the barks and leaves of 
the trees, and the skins of beasts, they did it in. the hiero- 
glyphics of nature. They had no other language. Pic- 
tures of the objects in nature, instead of the living origin- 
als, became the expressive symbols of men's ideas. And 
there was no thought, feeling, passion, or propensity of 
the mind, which this language could not delineate to the 
life; and much more correctly than any other language 
could do it ; because man's spiritual qualities had given 
the very forms to the objects in nature which would be 
selected to represent those qualities in man. The written 
language, therefore, could not possibly be mistaken by 
any one who understood the science of correspondences, 



THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 125 

even at the present day. Did the people of that age wish 
to express upon parchment any attribute or character of 
their Creator or of man, in the book of Nature, they saw 
their subject in living lines, and any expression of char- 
acter could be delineated therefrom. And did they wish 
to correspond with their friends at a distance, or narrate 
a history of events, this mode of writing was amply suffi- 
cient. 

But, in the process of inventions, the period arrived 
when a new language, from the use of sounds expressed 
by means of letters and words, was invented and intro- 
duced into use. But even in this language men still con- 
veyed their ideas, as before, by natural symbols. For, 
though they did not paint any longer the objects of na- 
ture, yet they spelled and used the names of those objects, 
and therefore continued to look, by correspondence, 
through the objects themselves, for the quality of the 
ideas. For example : they had been accustomed to paint 
the lamb for innocence ; the serpent for subtlety ; the 
hand for power ; the eye for the understanding ; the 
heart for the will ; the ear for obedience ; the stars for 
knowledges ; the moon for faith ; the sun for love, and 
sometimes for the Lord, and so forth. But now they use 
the names of these things, which conveyed the same ideas. 
For the names of things always indicated their quality. 
So that the change in the mode of writing did not change 
in the least the character of the language. It was still 
the language of correspondences — the universal language. 
And the names of the natural things just mentioned now 
signify in the Word what is stated. 

This is the true, original language. And in this lan- 
guage Moses, a man skilled in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians, wrote the Pentateuch in the Hebrew dialect ; 



126 THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

a language peculiar for the expression of the qualities of 
things by their names. In no other language than cor- 
respondences could the Bible possibly contain the Word 
of God, for no other language can have, in itself, " spirit 
and life." 

But as man by sinful habits became less and less 
spiritually-minded, and gradually sunk into sensuality 
and naturalism, so this sublime language lost its beauty 
and glory, until its gold became as dross and passed 
away. But not without leaving its expressive memoran- 
dums upon the pyramids of Egypt ; in the records of the 
Druids ; in Oriental literature ; in the fabulous stories 
of antiquity ; in the idolatrous worship of the Gentiles ; 
in Heathen mythology ; in the poetry of all ages ; 
and even faintly in the present profane languages of 
the earth. 

But from all these remains, the spirit and life have 
departed ; and the consequence of the loss of this science is 
" confusion of tongues " all over the earth. Men cannot 
now certainly understand each other. Their words have 
no definite meaning. They quarrel from the want of a 
sure way of expressing their ideas. The hottest mental 
combats often end in the perception of the fact that the 
parties both meant the same thing, but misunderstood 
each other's words. 

It is therefore from false, and not from true views of 
the Word, that men are divided. Truths are eternal 
verities. They are ever and unchangeably the same. 
And all truths are in harmony, and sustain each other. 
About them, when seen, men cannot differ. It is about 
falsities altogether that the Christian world is contending. 
Falsities are all dark, unstable, deceptive, and mysterious ; 
fit grounds for contention and strife, and for the proud 



THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 127 

display of self-wisdom ; and constant changes of opinion 
are, and must be, taking place among those who build 
upon such grounds : while those who build on the " Rock 
of Ages" — the spiritual truth, of the Word, rationally 
seen in the light of analogy — never can change their 
views, nor disagree in their doctrines, unless by sin they 
lose their language. Analogical students of the Word, 
therefore, so far as they receive the light, will come to 
the same conclusions as to its teachings, because their 
investigations will be carried on by a scientific Law, and 
that Law divine ; and the reason they will not disagree is 
the very reason why they differ not in mathematics : be- 
cause in both instances the truths are indisputable. If, as 
we believe, there are no two persons who, without the 
light of this science, do agree as to the doctrines of the 
Word, and no two who have it that disagree, the ques- 
tion as to its truth becomes a startling one. 

Thus nature is the basis of all language. And, how- 
ever lost we may now be to the true roots and laws of 
our own dialect, we may soon know by rational reflection 
that it is Dame Nature that has taught us all to talk. 
We can lisp only her accents. True, her language has 
become to us much adulterated, but that is our own fault. 
We use it nevertheless. Of this we may be convinced by 
trying to answer this one question : Had we no language, 
how would we get one ? Now, we may think deeply, and 
seek, as keenly as we can, the answer to this question, 
and we shall find it impossible to see how to express a 
single idea in speech without taking the sign from nature. 
For illustration : Had we no words to express the idea of 
innocence, how would we declare it ? By a harmless ex- 
pression of the face, a soft tone of the voice, or a gentle 
motion of the hand ? How should we know but it meant 



128 THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

gentleness, kindness, quietude, or some other grace or 
virtue? We could not certainly tell. We should have 
no other way than by seeking something in nature which 
was a symbol of innocence. And if we could read the 
book of Nature in correspondences, we should point at 
once to the lamb. But having lost the science of corre- 
spondences, the language we should now draw from na- 
ture, if we had none, would be very indefinite. Still we 
should go there ; for the natural man has no other way, 
and can think of no other way to describe his thoughts 
and feelings, but in the use of words which have been 
drawn entirely from nature. 

Take for instance the whole variety of adjectives, by 
which we express the qualities of mental things : bitter, 
sweet, sour, warm, cold, long, short, high, low, dark, 
light, near, distant, black, white, no matter what. They 
are all taken from nature. And yet we use them to de- 
scribe the states and qualities of the mind. We speak of 
a warm or cold heart ; a bitter, sweet, or sour temper, 
and of a long, deep, or shallow head ; of high or low 
spirits ; a dark and muddy, or clear and lucid understand- 
ing ; a bright or cloudy intellect ; a black character ; a 
distant relative, a near friend, a knotty subject; and so 
we might go on and fill up our chapter. These expres- 
sions are used because there is no other way to express 
the quality of spiritual things but by means of words ex- 
pressive of the quality of natural things. 

Now, nothing short of the restoration of this science 
can ever draw out the deep truths of the Word, restore 
harmony to the minds of Christians, and bring the watch- 
men to see eye to eye. Well may the Psalmist sing of 
things of nature, saying, " There is no speech nor Ian- 



THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 129 

guage where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone 
out through all the earth, and their words to the end of 
the world." * 

* See Silver's Lectures, on the Symbolic Character of the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, Chapters II and III, from which we have made extracts in this chapter. 



6* 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

Men once saw that the outward creation or visible 
system — the Sun, Moon, Stars, and Earth, with all their 
varieties of things — was a symbol of the human mind. 
Before the science of correspondences was lost, this was 
clearly understood, from the very nature of God, men and 
things. For this reason man was called a microcosm or 
little world. And now, by means of that science, we of 
this age may see the propriety of the expression. For the 
science expressly shows that God has given His "Word to 
teach us spiritual things through His Works. 

For this purpose the things of nature are constantly 
brought up in His Word. Read where we will, they are 
ever before our thoughts. And though the Word is given 
by a Spiritual Being, to teach spiritual creatures spiritual 
things, and comes declaring itself to be Spirit and Life, 
yet it commences with the mention of natural things and 
natural events ; and it talks about them continually, 
throughout the entire Bible. 

It is no wonder therefore that, upon the loss of the 
science of correspondences, men became more and more 
natural until they saw, in the Word, little else than a 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 131 

history of natural things, and laws for the action of ma- 
terial bodies ; as was the case with the Jews ; but few of 
whom had any thoughts of spiritual things or of any 
existence above matter. 

But we may now see that the Word so speaks, because 
natural things are the results of spiritual things, and cor- 
respond to them. For ' all natural things are the effects 
of will and understanding somewhere exercised. And 
those things must point, by certain and eternal laws, to 
the character and quality of the causes which produced 
them. Throughout the whole Divine Record, therefore, 
we may look, by analogy, through the effects to their 
causes, and see the nature and character of the thoughts 
and feelings which brought the natural events to pass. 
And we may thus read the spiritual, the real history. 
Who cannot read in a human production something of the 
thoughts and feelings of the artist who paints a picture, or 
of the man who invents a machine ? Precisely so do all 
natural things suggest the mental nature and character of 
their causes. 

And now, when we contemplate the spirituality of the 
Word, and see that the historical parts, besides the account 
they give of God, are a narrative of the various creations, 
falls and regenerations of the souls of men, in different 
ages and under various circumstances ; and that the pro- 
phetical portions are a description of the same kind of 
things foretold ; while the legal parts are given for the 
guidance of the mental action of those souls, and for their 
true illumination and life ; and that even the Psalms, be- 
sides their reference to the glorification of the Lord's 
Humanity, are a description of the same kind of things, 
showing more particularly what men's souls pass through 
in their regeneration, and the influences which produce 



132 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

it : I say, when we see this, and understand that the 
things below man in the scale of being, are symbols of his 
mental qualities ; and that the internal plane of man's 
mind is his heaven, with its sun, moon and stars, and that 
the external plane is his earth, with all its living creatures 
of affections and thoughts, then there will be a view 
opened, for a bird's-eye glance at the Word, whereby a 
flood of light will flow into our minds to aid us in the in- 
vestigations before us. For it will give us a clue to the 
true meaning of all those dark passages in the Word 
which speak of the creation and passing away, at sundry 
times, of the heavens and the earth, as well as to all other 
strange things said therein ; for it will open the door for 
a general exploration and understanding of the entire 
Word, by correspondences. 

From this view we may see that, as man is a micro- 
cosm, having within him all the living elements of the 
macrocosm ; and as God, the Infinite Man, is the Author 
and Father of all, is related to all, and is giving existence 
and life to all ; so therefore the history and study of man 
is the history and study of everything. And God's Holy 
Word embraces that whole vast history. It is an entire 
history of man ; past, present and prophetic. Whatever 
therefore may be the apparent subject of the letter of the 
Word, we must look, by analogy, through what appears 
on the surface, to matters of the mind — to things human. 

Where the creation of natural things is mentioned, 
the internal sense treats of the creation of the spiritual 
things to which the natural things correspond. This im- 
mense, and yet consolidated system of views, of God, man, 
and the universe ; and of the Holy Word, as the medium 
of light and life to all created things ; strikes many minds, 
at the first view, as strange and novel ; and they turn 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 133 

aside, saying, it is asking too much to request their atten- 
tion to any such system. But let me ask them if it is 
asking too much to request their attention to the Word 
of the Most High God ? And let me further ask, where 
they are, without the Word of God, and what light they 
can bring from any other source or system to show the 
use, beauty and harmony of that entire Word % Upon 
what other ground, than this language of analogy, can we 
possibly account for the propriety or use of many portions 
of the Sacred Word ? What shall we do with the Penta- 
teuch, and Joshua, or with the books of Ezekiel and the 
Apocalypse, or with many mysterious things scattered 
throughout the Word ? Why is the vast universe, in gen- 
erals and in particulars, so frequently brought before us ? 
The sun, moon, stars, winds, rain, clouds, hail, snow, ice, 
frost, fire, light, darkness, calms, storms, thunders, earth- 
quakes, floods, droughts, mountains, hills, valleys, seas, 
rivers — everything inanimate : beasts, birds, fishes, rep- 
tiles, insects— everything that flies, walks, creeps, swims, 
or crawls : trees, brambles, briers, shrubs, thistles, wheat, 
rye, barley, corn — everything that grows upon the earth : 
gold, silver, copper, brass, iron, lead, precious stones, 
rocks, clay, sand — everything in the earth ; and even the 
earth itself: why are these things so frequently mentioned 
by the Lord, in whole or in part, to teach men the doc- 
trines of the Word and the way of life ? for " all Scripture 
is profitable for doctrine." Must it not be because they 
impart moral and religious instruction by a higher mean- 
ing that the letter which killeth ? Why are these things 
mentioned as living and rational creatures? the floods 
clapping their hands, the hills rejoicing, the trees choos- 
ing a king, the mountains moving about, the hills skip- 
ping like young sheep, the valleys shouting and singing, 



134 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

the earth reeling to and fro like a drunken man, every- 
thing that hath breath praising the Lord, and God enter- 
ing into covenant with the beasts of the field and the 
creeping things of the earth, — why all this, unless they 
correspond to principles in man ; so that it is man that 
reels to and fro, man that praises God by every living 
principle of his nature, man with whom God entered into 
covenant, man that shouts and sings, man that claps his 
hands, man that chooses a king, principles in man that 
skip like young sheep, mountains in man that are moved ? 
It must be so : and by the science of correspondences it is 
clearly seen to be so. But without this science, what can 
we learn from such things of the Word as the Lord's shav- 
ing with a hired razor, and its consuming the beard from 
the feet ? From the dragon's sweeping down a third part 
of the stars with his tail ? From a chariot's being cast 
into a dead sleep ? From Jehovah's riding on horseback 
or in chariots ? From horses' coming out of the book 
when opened % From the locusts with shapes like horses, 
faces like men, hair like women, teeth like lions, and tails 
like scorpions. What can these things mean % Are they 
the Word of Infinite Wisdom % They are, most certainly ; 
and they are beaming with truth, clear to the mind 
and filled with food for hungry souls. Come ye to the 
banquet ! come with confidence and a teachable spirit, 
and you will find, in every passage, a well of living water 
springing up unto everlasting life, for all that thirst.* 

Now, from this general glance at the subject let us 
next look at the use made in the Word of the sun, moon 
and stars. As these are called heavenly bodies and are 
said to be in the heavens, so in order for them to corre- 

* See Silyer's Lectures, Chapter III. 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 135 

spond to tilings of the human mind, that mind must have 
its heaven. And as the Holy Word is a history of the 
human mind, and commences by saying, " In the begin- 
ning God created the heaven and the earth," so, by the 
word " heaven " is meant the internal plane of the mind, 
and by the " earth," the external plane. And a little ex- 
amination will show any one that this is what is meant by 
the phrase " the heavens and the earth," wherever used in 
the Word. 

The Lord says, in Isaiah (lxv, IT), " Behold, I create 
new heavens and a new earth : and the former shall not 
be remembered, nor come into mind." Now by the 
former heavens and earth which are not to be remembered 
must be meant the very heavens and earth created in the 
beginning, for they can mean no other. And they must 
also mean the human mind, because by the new heavens and 
new earth mentioned, is meant, a new state of the human 
mind, with the internal and external mind brought into 
order ; for the prophecy continues, " Behold, I create 
Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy ; " where Jeru- 
salem means the church or the human mind in order. 

Now, this prophecy, in Isaiah, relates to the coming 
of the Lord in the flesh, for the establishment of the 
Christian Church, or of a new state of the human mind. 
And this state of the mind is the new heavens and the 
new earth, to which the prophecy refers : for the former 
heavens and earth, or good and true state of the mind, had 
passed away in the progressive fall of man ; and the new 
heavens and earth were to take their place. 

And so, in the prophecy through Jeremiah, our Lord 
says, in reference to this dark state of the human mind or 
of the church, " My people is foolish, they have not known 
Me ; they are sottish children, and have rrone understand- 



136 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

ing ; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have 
no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without 
form and void / and the heavens, and there was no light; 
I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of 
heaven were fled." Here we have the depraved state of 
the Jews, at the time the Lord was to come in the flesh. 
And how much it is like the description of the state of 
the first people on earth, while in spiritual ignorance, or 
before the kingdom of heaven was established in them ! 
for that narrative, in Genesis, says, " In the beginning God 
created the heaven and the earth : and the earth was with- 
out form, and void ; and darkness tvas upon the face of 
the deep" And so the Jewish mind at the coming of the 
Lord was without form, and void, because it was not sym- 
metrical, being deformed by sin, and void of goodness and 
truth. Its heavens or internal mind, as the prophecy de- 
clares, had no light, for it had ceased to be spiritual. 
And the reason why it is said, " there was no man" is, 
because it requires the image of God to make a real man ; 
and this the Jews had lost. And so the reason why it is 
said that all the birds of heaven were fled is because all 
heavenly thoughts were gone. The Jews had become a 
low, sensual people. 

Now in order to restore the Jews to the image of God, 
the lights of truth must be set again in the heavens, to 
give light upon the earth, and the fled birds or heavenly 
thoughts must be called back. And all this the Lord 
did, in the establishment of the Christian Church. He 
even created man again in His own image after His like- 
ness : or He created a new heavens and a new earth, or 
the church in man, and illuminated it. And He says to 
it prophetically, " Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and 
the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee ; and the Gentiles 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 137 

shall walk to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy 
rising.'' Thus the Lord is the light of the mind or of the 
church. The sun denotes the Lord as to love and wis- 
dom, the moon denotes truth or faith, and the stars truths 
or knowledges. These things are never mentioned in the 
Word without having this signification. For as the moon 
is a dark, opaque body, receiving all its light from the 
sun, so the human mind is a dark opaque body, receiving 
all its light of truth, or its true faith, from the Lord, the 
Sun of Kighteousness. And as the human mind shines by 
the truths of faith from the Lord, so the moon shines by 
light borrowed from the sun. The moon is therefore used 
in the Word as a true symbol of faith. And the stars are 
most beautiful symbols of truths or knowledges in the 
mind. Being bright objects in the natural firmament, 
they denote true principles in the understanding or men- 
tal firmament. What a beautiful mental constellation are 
the ten commandments, when bright and clear in the firm- 
ament of the mind ! Like beacon lights to the natural 
mariner, they stand in our mental heavens as fixed stars 
upon which we may ever depend, to mark our moral and 
religious latitude and longitude in the ocean of life, as we 
strive, in dependence upon the Lord, to guide our frail 
bark of humanity, in its onward-bound voyage to the 
haven of peace, our eternal home. Stars are therefore 
said to fall from heaven, or to withdraw their shining, 
whenever man loses his knowledge of the truths of the 
Word. 

In the prophecy in Joel, concerning a dark and de- 
praved state of the world, the Lord says, " The earth shall 
quake before them ; the heavens shall tremble ; the sun 
and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw 
their shining .... The sun shall be turned into darkness, 



138 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

and the moon into blood." (ii, 10, 31.) This is a pro- 
phetic description of the dismal state of the human mind 
when its sun of righteousness, its moon of- faith, and its 
stars of spiritual knowledges cease to shine. And how 
graphic is this description when the analogy is seen ! No 
human language can compare with it either for fulness, 
definiteness or force. 

"What a pitiable state of man, or of the mental earth, 
is shown by the following language through Isaiah ! " The 
earth mourneth and fadeth away. The earth is defiled. 
The foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is ut- 
terly broken down. The earth is clean dissolved. The 
earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to 
and fro like a drunkard." Now as the sun, moon and 
stars were not disturbed at the Lord's coming, when this 
prophecy was fulfilled, something else is meant. And we 
have positive proof, in plain and unmistakable language, 
what that something else is. For on the day of Pentecost, 
when the people " were all amazed, and marvelled, saying 
one to another, behold, are not all these which speak 
Galileeans ? And how hear we every man in our own 
tongue, wherein we were born ? . . . But Peter, standing 
up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto 
them, . . . This is that which was spoken by the prophet 
Joel : And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith 
God, ... I will show wonders in heaven above, and 
signs in the earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapour of 
smoke : the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the 
moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the 
Lord come." 

# Here Peter quotes the very words of Joel (ii, 28-31), 
who declares that before the things, mentioned as occur- 
ring on the day of Pentecost, should take place, the sun 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 139 

should be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. 
Thus showing clearly that, before the Christian Church 
should be established, the true light of faith would be gone 
from the human mind on earth. For by the sun's being 
turned into darkness is meant the loss of all true knowl- 
edge and love of the Lord, the Sun of Righteousness. And 
by the moon's being turned to blood is meant violence 
done to faith. There can be no question of the meaning 
of these prophecies left in the mind of any one, after 
candidly examining them in the light of analogy, in which 
they are written. 

The same symbolic language is used in the prophetic 
portions of the New Testament, to express another dark, 
divided and distracted state of the religious world on the 
earth, and of the establishment of the New Jerusalem. 
For the prophet John says, in the Apocalypse, " and I 
saw a new heaven, and a new earth : for the first heaven 
and the first earth were passed away : . . . and I John 
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from 
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her 
husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven say- 
ing, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He 
will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and 
God Himself shall be with them, their God." 

Now the whole 24th chapter of Matthew is a prophecy 
of the divisions, disorders and troubles, which would arise 
in the Christian world, and of the coming of the Lord for 
the establishment of the New Jerusalem. The Lord there 
says, " Immediately after the tribulation of those days 
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give 
her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the 
powers of the heavens shall be shaken : and then shall 
appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven : and then 



140 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

snail all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see 
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory." All these wonderful things con- 
cerning the sun, moon and stars, were to take -place before 
the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven and the 
descent of the New Jerusalem. And as the things writ- 
ten concerning the sun, moon and stars did not take place 
in outward nature at the Lord's first coming, as prophesied 
in Isaiah, Jeremiah and Joel, we therefore are not to look 
for anything of the kind at His second coming in the 
clouds of heaven, for it is declared that in both instances 
the same things would take place. 

But all will be plain when men see that the clouds are 
the dark, literal sense of the Word, when not understood ; 
and that the Lord, who is the Truth, will make His com- 
ing as the spiritual light of the Word, in those clouds, by 
means of the science of correspondences. Who does not 
see that without that science, the Scripture we have con- 
sidered is a dark cloud in the mind ? But by the use of 
that science, the Lord, as heavenly light, comes in this 
cloud with power and great glory. 

The passage in Mark which treats of the second com- 
ing of the Lord, and of the state of the world, reads thus : 
" But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be 
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the 
stars of heaven shall fall." By the tribulation of those 
days is meant what we now see throughout the world, as 
divisions, and subdivisions, and contentions of sects, and 
parties, and creeds, called in the prophetic teachings of 
the 24th chapter of Matthew, wars, and rumors of wars, 
and earthquakes, and pestilences, and famines, and cry- 
ings of lo, here, and lo, there. But in Isaiah (lx, 18, 20), 
where it is prophesied of the coming of the New Jerusa- 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 141 

lem, our Lord says, " Violence shall no more be heard in 
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but 
thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. 
Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall thy moon 
withdraw itself : for the Lord shall be thine everlasting 
light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended." 

In one of the prophecies of the New Jerusalem, 
through St. John, it says, " There appeared a great 
wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the sun and 
the moon under her feet ; and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars." The woman denotes the crowning state 
of the church, when she is to come as a bride adorned for 
her husband. How cheering the thought that the church 
is yet to be clothed with light as with a garment — a light 
shining from heavenly love, so that her deportment will 
be pure mercy and intelligence ; that her understanding 
is to be filled with all spiritual knowledges, symbolized 
by a crown of twelve stars : that she will ever stand firm 
upon the eternal rock of true faith, denoted by the moon 
under her feet as a sure lantern to her paths ! 

There is another striking prophecy in the Apocalypse, 
concerning the disturbed and beclouded condition of the 
Christian world preceding the descent of the New Jerusa- 
lem. It reads thus : " The sun became black as sackcloth 
of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of 
heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her 
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; and 
the heavens departed as a scroll when it is rolled to- 
gether." Now while we cannot conceive of stars falling 
from heaven, nor the moon becoming as blood, we can 
conceive of truths becoming lost to the mind, and of vio- 
lence being done to faith, while it is crimsoned with sins 
of every dye. 



14:2 THE MICEOCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

We have now given a brief explanation of the mean- 
ing of the heavens and the earth, the sun, moon and stars, 
from the very commencement of the Word to its close — in 
Genesis, in the Prophets, in the Gospels and the Acts of 
the Apostles, as taken from the Prophets, and in Revela- 
tion. The literal sense alone is against the reason which 
God has given to man, and consequently cannot teach 
him. But, by the divine science of correspondences, in 
which the Holy Word is written, we have a rational and 
beautiful view of the truth therein taught. And what is 
most important is, they show us our God, and teach us the 
way of life and salvation — the very things which we most 
need to know, and which the good God most desires to 
teach us. 

Again, the mind has its mountains, hills and valleys. 
Mountains are our highest loves, whether good or evil. 
Therefore if the thing we most ardently love be goodness, 
that affection would be called a " mountain of holiness," a 
" mountain of the Lord," because a high state of love to 
the Lord. So if it be self we most love, manifested in 
some violent feeling of revenge or malice toward some in- 
dividual who has injured or slandered us, that bitter feel- 
ing is also a mountain — the uppermost pinnacle of our 
mental earth. This mountain must be removed before we 
can find rest or peace of soul. This is the kind of moun- 
tain to which, if we have faith like a grain of mustard- 
seed, we can say, " be thou removed, and it shall be 
done ; " for if we have faith to believe that it is wrong to 
feel unkind toward anybody ; that we should love even 
our enemies and bless those that curse us, then we can re- 
move this mountain of revenge. 

Hills, in a bad sense, denote feelings not so high as 
mountains, not so bitter as revenge or malice, yet feelings 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 148 

which are unkind and uncharitable. In a good sense, 
they denote feelings of charity and good-will. From this, 
we may form some idea of what is meant in the Word by 
the moving about of mountains and hills. For the moun- 
tains of self-love, and the hills of the love of the world are 
removed by regeneration ; and the mountains of the love 
of God and the neighbor take their place. 

Wherever in the Word, animals are mentioned, we find 
in them a representation of the human affections ; in the 
birds mentioned, we see a symbol of man's thoughts. 
And the more closely we study the character and qualities 
of the various animals and birds, in connection with our 
own feelings and thoughts, the more strongly will we be- 
come confirmed in the belief that there must be some ana- 
logical law or connection between the human mind and 
these creatures. We shall then understand why Herod 
was called a fox, and Dan a lion's whelp or an adder in 
the path. We shall also see why the Lord says, " The lion 
shall lie down with the lamb, and the leopard with the 
kid ; the cow and bear shall feed together, and a little 
child shall lead them ; " for by this language we shall see 
a beautiful description of the state of the regenerate mind, 
when all the various feelings of the bosom, denoted by 
the different beasts, are in harmony and love ; when the 
strong lion and leopard of the mind are filled with the 
spirit of mercy and truth, and are faithfully protecting 
the lambs and kids of innocence and virtue from all 
harm, and even lying down in their embrace. We shall 
understand what is meant in the Word, by the beasts be- 
fore the throne of God full of eyes before and behind. 
For, as eyes denote the understanding, we shall see that 
it is the affections of man filled with wisdom concerning 
things future and past. We shall see why it is written that 



144: THE MICEOCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

the beasts give glory, and honor, and thanksgiving to the 
Lord ; why the beasts say, Amen ; why, when the Lord 
opened ftie first seal, it was a beast that said, " Come and 
see ; " and also why the beasts fell down and worshipped 
God, saying, Amen, Alleluia. We shall see that the 
human heart, the soul's affections, are what is meant by 
beasts ; that it is men and not animals that do these things. 
Now, how like the thoughts the birds fly about from 
spray to spray, and from object to object ; now rising 
toward heaven and now sinking to earth ! One bird meets 
the eye and is gone. We know not whence he came, nor 
where he went. How like the coming and going thought ! 
Another appears dressed in beauty. 'Tis like the poet's 
brilliant thought, flying to perch in the verse of fame or 
affection. Another bird soars, in the morning, on the 
wings of joy, warbling his joyous notes like the happy 
Christian's thought, ascending to heaven in the morning 
anthem. Some birds descend to the earth and feed upon 
filth ; fit symbols of the dissolute thoughts of the grovel- 
ling mind, indulging in sin. Some are birds of night, 
which cannot bear the light of day. They denote the hid- 
den thoughts of the thievish soul, afraid to appear before 
the eyes of men. Some birds are fierce and cruel, armed 
with beaks and claws for destruction. They point to the 
malicious murderer's thoughts, seeking carnage and gain. 
Other birds are as gentle and harmless as the breath of 
heaven, and as joyous as the music of spring, correspond- 
ing to the thoughts of innocent children sporting 'mid sun- 
shine and flowers. Some birds, in their union, are as 
affectionate and as constant to each other as mercy and 
truth. They denote the conjugal thoughts of faithful 
souls, which no powers can sever nor adversities weaken. 
Some birds are as black as darkness, and others as white 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 145 

as the light ; while others are mixed with black and 
white. How perfectly they symbolize, in color, the false, 
the true, and the adulterated thoughts of men ! Birds 
are indeed most true and perfect representatives of 
thoughts, and throughout the Holy Word they always 
denote something of the rational or intellectual, element. 

It is remarkable that almost everywhere in the Word, 
where birds are mentioned, some other meaning than the 
literal sense must be given them, before the mind can be 
satisfied. If we go to the first chapter of Genesis, the 
first place where " winged fowl " is mentioned, we are 
confounded with the idea that the birds were made of 
water. But when we see that it is a spiritual history, 
and that water there corresponds to truth, and birds to 
thoughts, all is light : the mystery is fled. For we see 
that all the thoughts of the people, before the fall, to 
which birds correspond, must have been true ; for the 
truths of the Lord brought them forth. And we also see 
that all the affections, to which the animals correspond, 
must have been good ; for the will or goodness of God, to 
which the land corresponds, brought them forth. And as 
beasts and birds are there used merely for the sake of the 
spiritual sense, all is rational and clear. 

That birds denote thoughts, we may see from the fol- 
lowing illustrations : In Isaiah our Lord says, " As birds 
flying, so will I defend Jerusalem." This is the only way 
the Lord can defend Jerusalem or the church. When the 
church in ourselves or in the community is in danger, we 
must have true thoughts, and we must let them fly from 
mind to mind, or the church will not be defended. 
Again, in Jeremiah, the Lord says of the people, " How 
long shall the land mourn for the wickedness of them that 
dwell therein ? the beasts are consumed and the birds." 
7 



146 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

Now, spiritually speaking, this was actually the state of 
the Jewish church ; good affections and true thoughts 
were gone or destroyed. But the natural beasts and birds 
were on the earth, as usual. And the Lord again says, by 
the same prophet, " Mine heritage is unto Me as a speck- 
led bird ; the birds round about are against her." The 
speckled bird denotes an adulterated state of the mind, by 
mixing up truths and falsities together : the white spots 
indicating truths, and the black ones, falsities, so that the 
thoughts are presented, partly true and partly false — a 
speckled bird. A church or a professed Christian must 
be true, or the thoughts of the people round about, or out 
of the church, will condemn him. The community will 
be against a speckled bird. In Revelations, speaking of 
the church as a city, or rather, as to doctrine, it says, 
" Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the 
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and 
a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." How true it 
is that a fallen and corrupt mind is a cage of such birds ! 
Again, the Holy Word speaks much of horses, where 
every one must see that it cannot mean natural horses. 
Now if we will only admit that the term horse means the 
understanding of knowledge, and read the Word with that 
idea in the mind, connected with other correspondences, 
all the strange passages of the "Word, where the term 
horse is used, will be rationally understood. But if we 
should adopt any other signification, the passages could 
not be understood. ¥e could make nothing out of them. 
The "Word speaks of horses and their riders. The horses 
signify the understanding of things, whether true or false. 
The riders are the persons themselves who have this un- 
derstanding and knowledge. Without the understanding 
of divine truth we could not possibly make spiritual prog- 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 147 

ress. We rest and rely upon the understanding and power 
of the truth, as we rest and rely upon the ability and 
strength of our horse ; and there is a perfect correspon- 
dence between them. But if, instead of the truth, our 
understanding be filled with false, absurd and evil views, 
it will be like a wild, frantic, ungovernable horse, leaping 
all the fences or rules of law and order, starting at every 
new object, getting into mud and mire, and often jeopar- 
dizing our life on the way. A man with such a mind 
needs to keep a strong bit and a straight rein over his 
headstrong understanding, or it will surely run away with 
him, and throw him among the rocks of error, on the 
wayside of destruction, or down the precipice of vice. 

Now, in prophesying of the future dark state of the 
Jewish church, it says, in Zechariah xii, 4, " In that day, 
saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, 
and his rider with madness : and I will open mine eyes 
upon the house of Judah, and I will smite every horse of 
the people with blindness." This prophecy has reference 
to the state of the Jewish church when the Lord should 
come in the flesh, and is already fulfilled ; and yet every 
natural horse was not smitten with astonishment and 
blindness. But the understandings of the Jews became 
astonished, and were blind to the truths of the Gospel ; 
and they remain so to this day.* 

The correspondence, in the Word, of the vegetable 
kingdom to the human mind is no less striking than that 
of the animal ; and it is as little understood without the 
spiritual sense. It generally refers to things of the natural 
mind : the grass upon which animals feed denoting natu- 
ral good, upon which the affections live ; and the trees, 

* See Silver's Lectures, Chapter VI, explaining the horses' coming out 
of the book. Rev. vi. 



148 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

whose fruits are for man, denote more elevated principles 
of the mind ; thorns, thistles, nettles, briers, brambles and 
tares denoting false and evil principles ; and corn and 
grain, generally, good principles. 

Much is said in the Word of trees. They often denote 
men, and sometimes God. By the Tree of Life is meant 
the Lord. In Judges ix, 8-15, the trees are represented 
as going out to choose a king over them ; and the trees 
throughout the parable denote people ; and the subject is 
beautifully applicable to men now. (Explained in Sil- 
ver's Lectures, chap, vii.) Great use is made, in the 
Word, of the olive, the vine and the fig-tree. In the 31st 
chapter of Ezekiel, a variety of trees are brought up, de- 
noting men or principles of the mind. Here Pharaoh is 
called the Assyrian, and also a cedar of Lebanon. And 
he is represented as a wonderful tree ; the other trees 
envy him, and some faint, and some go to hell ; and all 
the fowls of heaven and beasts of the field are connected 
with him. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, represents the natural 
man in the love of science, and progressing in scientific 
wisdom and knowledge, and thereby gaining great power 
and influence, becoming envied and admired for his vast 
acquirements and superior excellence, until he becomes 
great in his own estimation, inflated with self-love, and 
thus he falls into ruinous evils. The various conditions 
of the trees, and birds and beasts, and the waters, show 
the operations of the various principles of his mind to 
which these natural things correspond, as he rises to the 
zenith of his glory, and falls into darkness and death. 
And in the sure language of God we may find it exceed- 
ingly interesting and instructive, as applicable to our 
natural man, by the rules of analogy. The spiritual sense 
is highly instructive ; but we have not room to explain it. 



THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 149 

Let us now glance at the similitude between the earth 
and the mind. The highest symbol of God in any one 
thing, except the human mind— the highest symbol of 
Him in nature — is the sun ; the heat denoting His love, 
the light, His wisdom, and their action, His power. And 
when we consider the sun as corresponding to God and 
the earth to man, we have a broad field for contempla- 
tion, and one which throws much light upon the under- 
standing of the Holy Word. The first general division 
of the earth is into land and water ; that of the mind, into 
will and understanding. The land denotes the good or 
evil ground of the will ; and the water, the truth or 
falsity of the understanding. The land can produce noth- 
ing without water : nor can the will, without the under- 
standing; goodness can do nothing without truth, nor 
evil, without falsity. But even the land and water to- 
gether can produce nothing of themselves, alone. They 
must have the heat and light of the sun. So also must 
the will and understanding of man have the love and 
wisdom of God — the divine influx — or they can do noth- 
ing. The land and water of the earth denote the will and 
understanding of the external mind, or the natural good 
and truth which are in them. To be truly alive and pro- 
ductive in heavenly things, this natural will and under- 
standing must receive spiritual goods and truths from the 
internal mind. This internal mind is represented by the 
natural heavens, with the sun, moon and stars : the sun 
denoting the Lord, the moon, faith in Him, and the stars, 
knowledges of His commandments. And how forcibly 
does the power of these divine principles, from our inter- 
nal mind operating upon our external, correspond to the 
influence of those heavenly bodies upon the earth, with- 
out which it would be utterly unfruitful. 



150 THE MICROCOSM AND THE MACROCOSM. 

Thus the correspondence between the physical uni- 
verse and the human mind is everywhere most perfect, 
not only in generals but in particulars. And it is neces- 
sarily so, because the elements of the human mind are the 
living elements of the universe, by regular influx. These 
are the glorious truths which will yet lift the veil from 
human hearts and minds, and bring the world together in 
wisdom and love. Then will the knowledge of the Lord 
cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and tears will 
be wiped from off all faces. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

NUMBEES. 

Numbers, like everything else of the Word, always 
have a spiritual signification touching the soul or life, 
which is their essential meaning. Sometimes they mean 
also what is numerically expressed in the literal sense, 
and sometimes they do not, but can only be understood 
in the spiritual sense. To number people or things is to 
ascertain their general qualities. 

Now, in order to prepare our minds for looking into 
the spiritual signification of numbers, let us first throw 
our thoughts back to the primeval age, when everything 
seen, said, or done, meant and declared something mental 
or spiritual. We shall then see that numbers would 
naturally and necessarily be used to denote the qualities 
of thoughts, feelings, and principles. 

And beginning with number One, it would of course 
mean God : He is First of all ; First in quality and in 
quantity ; the All in all. And this quality-signification 
of number one has never been wholly lost. Thus, we say 
of a person, he is the first man in town, or the first 
scholar in the class. He may have been the last man 
that moved into town, and the last that entered the class. 



152 THE COEEESPONDENCE OF NUMBEES, 

Moreover, when we leave individuals and come to 
principles or elements, Love is number One. It is the 
Life principle, the spring of all action. And next to 
Love is Wisdom. Wisdom is number Two. But it in- 
volves number One. We cannot have two things with- 
out having one. We cannot be truly wise without being 
good. Two, therefore, denotes the dual principle, and 
signifies marriage, or Love and Wisdom, or goodness and 
truth in -union. Next to Love and Wisdom is Power. 
Power is number Three. But it involves the other two. 
We cannot have three things without the two. We can- 
not have power without having love and wisdom, or will 
and understanding, either in true or in inverted order. 
Power, therefore, involves everything that is in it. Con- 
sequently the number Three signifies all, fulness, perfec- 
tion. 

Yery many passages can be cited from the Word to 
sustain these statements. As in John x, 30, "I and My 
Father are One." The Father is Love ; the Son, or 
Word, is Truth. And in Deuteronomy vi, 4, " Hear, O 
Israel : Jehovah our God is One Jehovah." Here the 
phrase Jehovah our God means the Divine Love and the 
Divine Wisdom, which are declared to be One. In all 
cases where God is mentioned by two names, Llis Love 
and Wisdom are meant. By knowing this, much light is 
seen. So the phrase Jesus Christ means the Divine Love 
and Wisdom, or Goodness and Truth. Again, in Psalm 
xxvii, 4, " One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will 
I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord 
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, 
and to inquire in His temple." Here the one thing de- 
sired involves three things, which it requires the union of 
will, understanding, and action to accomplish. It is the 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 153 

same in Mark x, 21 : " One thing thou lackest : go thy 
way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor." 
One thing involves the three. A volume could be cited 
to sustain this truth. 

Four, being the square of two, denotes also union ; 
and consequently the fulness of goods and truths, or evils 
and falsities, in the complex : as in Zechariah vi, 1, 
" And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and 
behold, there came four chariots out from between two 
mountains." Now this relates solely to things of the 
mind. It is a vision of the coming of the church into 
men. Chariots denote doctrines : four denotes fulness, 
and also conjunction of goodness and truth therein: a 
mountain denotes love ; two mountains, love to God and 
the neighbor. By the chariots being drawn by horses is 
meant that the doctrines were in the understanding ; com- 
ing from the mountains shows that they go forth from 
the heart. The whole vision is exceedingly beautiful, 
teaching the way of life ; but we are now only upon 
numbers, and have not room to give further illustration. 

The number Ten denotes all a man has. Something 
of its quality-signification may be seen in the fact of 
man's having ten fingers and ten toes. It suggested the 
origin and rule for counting by tens. Therefore, any 
number obtained by adding ciphers to ten, as 100, 1,000, 
and so forth, signifies the same as ten, only extending 
more into particulars. Thus the ten commandments in- 
clude the whole law — all. And a thousand command- 
ments would mean not only what was in the ten, but 
would direct the thoughts to the particular command- 
ments everywhere in the "Word. 

The number Five, the half of ten, sometimes signifies 
the same as ten, and sometimes a few, or much, or little, 
7* » " 



154 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

according to the subject treated of and the manner used. 
As in Matthew xxy, 1, 2, "Then shall the kingdom of 
heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their 
lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five 
of them were wise, and five were foolish." Here the 
Bridegroom is the Lord, as the Word ; the kingdom of 
heaven is the church ; the ten virgins are all the mem- 
bers, without regard to numbers ; the five wise ones are 
all, without regard to numbers, who loved the truth ; and 
the five foolish are all who do not love the truth : for 
truth, in the understanding, is the lamp, and love of that 
truth, in the will, is the oil in the vessel for the lamp. 
The reason the wise did not give to the foolish of their oil 
is, no one can be good in borrowed love. They must go 
and buy for themselves, which is done by giving up the 
love of deception, and obtaining the love of the truth. 

Now, a few simple rules will aid a person very much 
to understand the Word, and particularly with regard to 
large numbers. For example : from number two arise 4, 
8. 16, 400, 800, 1,600, 4,000, 8,000, 16,000, and so forth ; 
which numbers signify the same as two, but direct the 
thoughts more into particulars. From three arise 6, 9, 
12, 24, 72, 144, 1,440, 144,000 ; also 30, 300, 3,000 ; 60, 
600, 6,000, and so forth ; w T hich numbers signify the same 
as three, but point to particulars. From five arise 10, 
100, 1,000, 10,000 ; also 50, 500, 5,000, and so forth ; 
which numbers signify the same as five, but direct to par- 
ticulars. From seven arise 14, 70, 700, 7,000, 70,000, 
which numbers signify the same as seven, pointing to 
particulars. 

Seven is a number signifying holiness, or a state of 
rest after regeneration. Days or times, in the Word, 
always denote states of mind. The six days of creation 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS- 155 

denote the states through which we pass in being regen- 
erated. And when the battles are all fought, and the 
victories -won, we come to the sabbath of rest. 

Now we have expressed the meaning of the four sim- 
ple and radical numbers, two, three, five, and seven, from 
which all larger numbers arise, either by multiplication 
or addition, or by both together. By having a knowl- 
edge, therefore, of the signification of only the first ten 
numbers, and which we have given, the truth of which, 
from the spiritual sense of the Word, may be satisfac- 
torily proved, we may ascertain something of the mean- 
ing of any larger number in the Word, by reducing it to 
the simple, primitive, or radical number, so that it is not 
so difficult to ascertain something about the spiritual 
meaning of numbers as might at first be supposed ; and 
particularly when we are prepared to understand the 
spiritual meaning of the other parts of the subject where 
the numbers are used. 

In verification of these general statements we will 
adduce a few examples, commencing with number 
Twelve, which is the common multiple of three and four. 
Three, we have seen, denotes fulness and perfection, em- 
bracing the triune elements of God Himself : four is the 
square of two — the dual number — which denotes the 
union of goodness and truth. Twelve, therefore, the 
product of three and four, must, from the very qualities 
they express, denote all goods and truths in the complex. 
And this is fully sustained by the very prominent use 
made of it in the Word. 

There were twelve tribes of Israel, meaning all the 
church of God, the elements of which are goods and 
truths. Moses built an altar on twelve pillars. Pillars 
signify truths, and altar, worship ; denoting that worship 



156 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

should be based on all truths. The breastj)late of Aaron, 
the High Priest, had twelve precious stones, containing 
the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Precious stones 
denote truths ; twelve, all goods and truths ; the p]ate 
worn over the breast denotes that the truths should come 
from the heart. Joshua set up twelve stones from the 
river Jordan, as a monumental memorial of the crossing, 
which signifies that, with all goods and truths in the 
mind, men will never forget God's mercies. In the tem- 
ple, they built a sea or font for baptism, and set it upon 
twelve oxen. Oxen denote good affections, and there 
being twelve supporting the water, which denotes truth, 
signifies that all goods and truths attending the washing 
of regeneration, must come from the affections. There 
were twelve apostles, who represented all truths of the 
Word. In the crown of the woman, who denotes the 
church, there were twelve stars, denoting all truths in the 
understanding. The Holy City has twelve foundations 
of stones, denoting that it is based on all truths ; and 
twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, which teach 
that we enter by means of truths and goods. 

Again, forty is a number much used. And as it is 
the product of four multiplied by ten, we see that it rep- 
resents fulness, extending to particulars in man, and would 
denote all the qualities and states of mind we pass through 
in the accomplishment of any mental revolution. 

Now, the flood is said to have been brought on by a 
rain of forty days and forty nights ; and the narrative de- 
clares that the flood was forty days upon the earth. And 
yet the water is said to have prevailed a much longer 
time. Now the days denote states of mind ; and forty 
^ays mean all the states through which that people passed 
from the commencement of the fall until their minds 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 157 

were inundated with falsities. Thus in Numbers it is 
written, " Ye shall bear your iniquity forty years : ye 
shall search the land forty days;" which means through 
all the states of their trials. The Psalms are a full 
prophecy of the states through which the Lord's assumed 
nature passed, on the earth, to its glorification. And in 
them He says of the Israelites, " Forty years long was I 
grieved with this generation." Now, what does He 
mean ? He did not live forty years on the earth. It 
means, then, all His states of temptation. Ezekiel was 
commanded to lie forty days upon his right side, to bear 
the iniquity of the house of Juclah. The right side has 
relation to goodness, the left side, to truth. To lie upon 
the right side means to rest or rely upon the goodness of 
God, and forty days would be during all the states the 
church might pass through until their iniquity was 
passed away. Herein it is obvious why it was ordained, 
in Deuteronomy, that a wicked man should be beaten 
with forty stripes. It means that he would receive pun- 
ishment for all his sins. And it is said that Moses abode 
in the mount forty days and forty nights, neither did he 
eat bread nor drink water, praying for the people. And 
so, the Lord was tempted in the wilderness forty days : 
and the children of Israel were forty years in the wilder- 
ness, to humble them and to prove them. But it is by 
no means certain that the Israelites were there forty 
years, or that the Lord was there forty days, or that 
Moses was praying forty days and nights without eating 
bread or drinking water. For forty here means, essen- 
tially, all the states of trial through which they passed. 

Again, the Lord says, " As the hosts of heaven cannot 
be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so 
will I multiply the seed of David, My servant." Now, 



158 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

this cannot be a natural fact, and can only be understood 
spiritually, by looking at David as the representative of 
the Lord, as the Word ; the Truths of which are multi- 
plied indefinitely, adapting themselves to the states of all 
people. 

The Lord is said to tell the number of the stars, and 
to call them all by their names. To number or count 
means to examine the qualities of things, and see how 
good or how true they are. To number the stars is to 
examine the truths of the human mind, the stars of our 
mental heaven, and see their quality. He is said to 
bring out the hosts of heaven by number ; which means 
that He arranges all heavenly principles in the mind, ac- 
cording to their quality. 

Again, the Lord says, through John, " Here is wis- 
dom. Let him that hath understanding count the number 
of the beast : for it is the number of a man ; and his 
number is Six hundred three score and six." (Rev. xiii, 
18.) Here is indeed wisdom : for none can count the 
number of the beast but him that hath understanding. 
And to have understanding is to see why his number is 
666, and also why this is the number of a man. To have 
understanding in this matter is to know the spiritual sense. 

Now, the quality of the human mind is the thing here 
inquired after. For the spiritual sense of the Word treats 
of nothing else but the Divine and human minds. And 
the mind of man is the complex of all created things. 
He is called a beast on account of his natural appetites 
and passions. He is called a man on account of his 
reason and intellect. It is his rational faculty which dis- 
tinguishes him from the beast, and gives him the appella- 
tion of man ; for the beasts are not endowed with reason. 

" Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding 



THE COKKESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 159 

count the number of the beast : for it is the number of a 
man." To count the number of the beast is to ascertain 
the quality of man's appetites and passions. To count 
the number of the man is to ascertain the quality of his 
reason and judgment. To have the number of the beast 
the same as the number of the man, is to have his reason 
and judgment of the same quality as his appetites and 
passions ; which is to ha ye his appetites and passions such 
as his reason and judgment approve. All this is readily 
seen by any one who will candidly seek the spiritual 
sense of the subject. But why the number was found to 
be 666 is not so easily seen. But, by going back to the 
simple or radical numbers, whose meaning is fixed and 
certain, we find that two multiplied by three makes six ; 
and six, having the qualities of both two and three, would 
denote all goods and truths, the same as twelve : and 666 
would mean the same extended to every particular and 
quality of the mind. But correspondences are to be 
taken either in a good sense or a bad sense, according to 
the subject-matter treated of; and the way they should 
be taken is readily seen. ~Now we find that the subject 
of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation is the state of a 
fallen church, or of a depraved and beastly mind, desti- 
tute of goods and truths ; therefore, the number 666 is 
expressed in a bad sense, and denotes that the quality of 
the man has fallen to the depraved quality of the beast, 
and consequently, in this instance, that number, instead 
of meaning all goods and truths, extending to all the par- 
ticulars and qualities of life, means all evils and falsities, 
extending throughout the whole man or fallen church. 

Again, in Genesis vi, 3, it is said of man, that " his 
days shall be an hundred and twenty years." And, from 
a literal, sensual conclusion, it would be quite natural to 



160 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

suppose that, because of the wickedness of the people, 
God had determined to cut down their long lives to the 
period of one hundred and twenty years : or, from some 
cause or other, their days were thereafter to be limited to 
that number. But this seems not to be the fact. For, 
at the time the Divine decree was passed, Noah is said 
to be five hundred years old. (Gen. v, 32.) Yet he lived 
another hundred years, till the flood (chap, vii, 6, 11), 
and three hundred and fifty years after it : in all, nine 
hundred and fifty years. (Chap, ix, 28., 29.) Shem also 
lived six hundred years (chap, xi, 10, 11) ; Arphaxad, 
four hundred and forty-three years ; Peleg, two hundred 
and thirty-nine years ; Eeu, two hundred and thirty-nine ; 
Serug, two hundred and thirty ; and many others overran 
the one hundred and twenty years. 

ISTow, nothing but the spiritual sense can reconcile 
such apparent discrepancies. But when we see that the 
number one hundred and twenty arises from the multi- 
plication of ten by twelve, and look at the spiritual 
meaning, all is plain. For, as ten denotes all the prin- 
ciples of good which the people had, and twelve all the 
goods and truths which they could receive, and which the 
Lord would adapt to their states and wants ; therefore, 
the promise of one hundred and twenty years' life, in- 
stead of foreshadowing evil, was a glorious promise, be- 
cause it declared that, notwithstanding the dark and dead 
state of the people, just before the flood, yet God would 
give them new life or new qualities ; thus pointing to a 
new or Noatic state of the church, whereby He would 
raise them above the falses and evils that threatened 
universal destruction, and would give them the qualities 
of spiritual life, denoted by one hundred and twenty 
years, but which had no reference whatever to time. 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 161 

Thus, by a knowledge of the spiritual signification of 
numbers, and of the spiritual sense of the scripture imme- 
diately connected with them, all the objections, with re- 
gard to numbers, which Dr. Colenso or any others may 
raise against the entire truthfulness and holiness of the 
Scriptures, as given in their original tongues, are entirely 
groundless, because they reach not the Word itself. Their 
energies are spent in the shades of appearances, which the 
spiritual Light of the Word, when seen, readily dispels, 
leaving even the literal sense luminous and beautiful with 
the heavenly light, of which it is the perfect vessel and 
medium. 

And as with numbers, so with weights and measures. 
They all have a spiritual signification, and are used to 
express states and qualities of the mind. And so also are 
all temples, tabernacles, altars, and works of art, men- 
tioned in the Word. 

To weigh a mental thing is to find out how good it is. 
To be weighed in a balance and found wanting, is to have 
no goodness. To measure a principle of the mind is to 
find out how true it is. 

Thus, Revelation xxi, 17, the angel measured the wall 
of the city and found it to be " one hundred and forty- 
four cubits according to the measure of a man, that is, of 
the angel." Now, this is so said because the number 
twelve denotes all goods and truths ; and one hundred 
and forty-four, being the square of twelve, means the 
same as twelve, extending to particulars. JSTow, goods 
and truths, affectionately and rationally received into the 
mind, are what constitute a true man or an angel. 
Therefore, one hundred and forty-four, meaning all goods 
and truths, would be his measure, or denote his quality. 
Any one may see that this has nothing to do with natural 



162 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

things. The city descends from God, out of heaven, into 
the human mind. By this city is meant the doctrines 
of the "Word, in their spiritual signification. By its meas- 
ure being twelve thousand furlongs, is meant that the 
doctrines comprise all truths, expressed in laws and rules 
of action, reaching every circumstance and condition in 
life. This is because twelve denotes fulness of all goods 
and truths, and ten, one hundred, or one thousand, de- 
notes all a man has or can receive. Therefore, the city 
also is the measure of a man, because these doctrines in 
the mind would show what a man's qualities are, or what 
his measure is. And by " the length, and the breadth, 
and the height " of the city being equal, we are taught 
that the doctrines are equally good, true, and useful. 
Here it is remarkable that the wall which surrounds the 
city measures only one hundred and forty-four cubits, 
while the city, within the wall, is the enormous size of 
twelve thousand furlongs square. Thus the literal sense 
alone is a dense cloud of darkness. But when we behold 
the spiritual sense — the Lord, as the "Word, coming in 
this cloud — all is luminous, beautiful, and rational. 

Now, did Bishop Colenso see this spiritual sense per- 
vading the entire Word of God, filling it with spirit and 
life, as the soul fills the body, how would the atmosphere 
of his mind clear up, and the heart glow with fresh grati- 
tude and love to the Heavenly Father, as his spirit should 
read in every sentence clear, useful, and heavenly instruc- 
tion, offering to the hungry soul the blessed food of an- 
gels ! And how gladly would he publish a new version 
of "The Pentateuch and Booh of Joshua Critically Ex- 
amined" with pages glowing with new light, and saying 
with joy and gladness, to the readers of his first book, 
that the sacred Scriptures are the sure words of the All- 



THE COEEESP0NDENCE OF NIJMBEES. 163 

Wise God, faithfully handed down, without contradiction 
or error. Then, whenever he should read the history of 
" the family of Judah" of which he speaks in chapter ii, 
he would not be seeking discrepancies in the letter, but 
the life and harmony of the spirit. In what is said of 
their numbers and travels, his thoughts would not be 
dwelling upon the count and movement of their bodies, 
but upon the qualities and states of human souls, which 
the numbers and movements signify Whenever he 
should read therein, " Thy fathers went down into Egypt 
with three-score and ten persons : and now the Lord thy 
God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multi- 
tude," he would look into the expression, " threescore and 
ten" not for the number of persons, but for the goods and 
truths of the soul which the number 70 signifies ; and he 
would look into the expression, " stars of heaven for mid- 
titnde" for the great increase of heavenly truths with 
which they had been blessed : for he would see at once 
that, as persons, they could not have become as the natu- 
ral stars for multitude ; while, as to the truths of the 
Word, to which stars correspond, they could be so ; for 
the sacred truths are not only bright, but innumerable. 
And that history would then become to him the Word of 
God, and teach his soul practical lessons of regeneration, 
as doth all scripture when the spiritual sense is seen. 

And the mystery which he sees in chapter iv, with 
regard to " the size of the court of the tabernacle compared 
with the number of the congregation" would be removed 
by the light of the internal sense. For the human mind 
is the true tabernacle of God, and is called in the Word 
" the temple of the Lord." And all the temples and 
tabernacles, cities and courts, mentioned in the Word, 
with all their measurements, dimensions, localities, ves- 



164 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

sels, ornaments, and uses, denote the minds of men, or 
qualities and things of the mind. And, as the Bishop 
should look into the world of mind for the things signi- 
fied by courts, tabernacles, and numbers, he would find 
this scripture " profitable for doctrine . . . and in- 
struction in righteousness," and applicable to his own 
mind, or to any number of people at any time, who 
would look to the Lord for light and life. 

Wherever the court and tabernacle are mentioned, the 
tabernacle denotes the internal mind of man, and the 
court the external mind ; and by the door of the taberna- 
cle is meant faith in the truth. Therefore the Lord says 
He is the Door, because He is the truth of faith, or is the 
Word, in the understanding, believed. And by the as- 
sembling of all the congregation at the door of the taber- 
nacle, would be meant the bringing together of all the 
affections and principles of the mind of an individual or 
of a community before the Lord, in true faith, that the 
tabernacle of the soul might be entered by the Lord, as 
the Word, through the door of faith, for the establish- 
ment of His kingdom. In this way we become prepared 
to receive the Lord or the truth through the court or ex- 
ternal mind, into the tabernacle or internal mind, where, 
in the light of that truth, we may begin truly to read and 
know ourselves, and in the power of the Spirit to become 
new creatures. In this way the minds of men are to be- 
come the temples of the Lord. 

And the width of the tabernacle being ten cubits, and 
the length thirty cubits, and the court being one hundred 
cubits in length, and fifty in breadth, all these numbers 
show at once what should be the quality of the internal 
and external minds in order to receive the Lord and be 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 165 

prepared for heaven. For these numbers denote fulness 
of goods and truths. 

And how much the value of the Holy Word is en- 
hanced when we see that it is not given merely to direct 
the construction and arrangement of material things, and 
to prompt our actions with regard to them ; but to teach 
the soul, through their forms, sizes, and uses, the true 
qualities of the heart and the living lessons of the Word ; 
thus showing the proper states of mind necessary for true 
worship, and for the work of regeneration ! 

But here men seem alarmed at the apparent loss of 
the literal sense of the Word, as though their sheet anchor 
were gone. But let me quiet their fears by assuring 
them that the literal sense of the Word is everywhere 
true, as a sure expression or symbol of an internal or real 
sense, which is the soul's true life ; and what can we want 
more ? True, the Bishop finds great difficulty with the 
literal sense. But suppose he did not ; suppose every- 
thing in the letter had been differently written, and were 
just suited to his mind, and to all natural minds, so that 
they could see and understand it as well as they do a 
common note of hand ; what would be the result ? The 
Bishop would probably be satisfied with the literal sense, 
and would seek nothing higher in the Word, and men 
would seem to themselves to know as much about it as 
the Lord. The fact is, the difficulties men find in under- 
standing the letter of the Word are what will eventually 
turn their attention to the spiritual sense. There is a 
holy sphere and power in the Word that men cannot give 
up. And when the Lord, as the spiritual sense, is once 
fairly " lifted up" He " will draw all men unto " Him. 

There is much literal history in the Word, the general 
features of which are a true record of events as they oc- 



166 THE COEEESPONDENCE OF NUMBEES. 

curred in this world ; but, in making that record, many 
particular things were no doubt modified by the Lord to 
suit the requirements of the spiritual sense, leaving out 
such things as were not in correspondences, and supply- 
ing such as were, at the same time giving all the literal 
history necessary for the good of mankind, and making a 
perfect spiritual history of the church in man, or of men- 
tal and real things contained in such a literal sense as 
would perfectly express it by correspondences : so that 
we can go to this history to learn correctly what the souls 
of men have passed through, and also to obtain thereby 
the valuable instructions we need for the action and puri- 
fication of our own souls. 

Thus the history says the seed of Abram was to be 
innumerable — " as the dust of the earth, and as the stars 
of heaven" (Gen. xiii, 16.) Here the natural history, for 
the sake of the spiritual sense, is made to give up every 
appearance of truthfulness, and to state what no one be- 
lieves naturally occurred ; and yet no one is hurt by it ; 
while that same literal sense, in the language of corre- 
spondences, is perfectly true and beautiful ; because 
Abram represents the Lord, and by the seed of Abram is 
denoted, all the truths of the "Word, which are innumer- 
able. 

Much might be cited from the Word, wherein it is 
clear that the literal narrative was either interrupted by 
something foreign from the natural thread of thought, or 
modified by changes, for the sake of the spiritual or living 
sense ; and particularly with regard to numbers, which 
are ever used to express the quality of mental things . 
always, no doubt, giving a correct natural account of the 
number of persons or things referred to, whenever that 
number would express the true quality of the spiritual 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 167 

things treated of: but if it would not, we readily see 
that, if expressed in the record, it would not be a true 
spiritual history. And most surely the words of the 
Most High God, which are spirit and life, must be given 
to spiritual beings for higher purposes than simply to 
talk about the things of time, and teach men after what 
fashion they should make natural tabernacles, and courts, 
and temples, and high priests' garments, and their orna- 
ments. They must be given to teach how the minds of 
men — the true tabernacles of the Lord — are to be formed, 
by means of things good and true, and clothed with the 
" garments of salvation," having on the " breast-plate of 
righteousness," and the u feet shod with the preparation 
of the gospel of peace." And through the description of 
these outward things, that instruction, by the science of 
correspondences, is given ; and no doubt better than it 
could be given, in the spiritual light, in any other way. 
Moreover, when we see clearly that numbers are used to 
express the qualities of things of the mind, and often 
without any regard to the number of natural things re- 
ferred to, many difficulties of the letter, which appear of 
great magnitude to some men, but which, in reality, do 
not at all concern us spiritually, are at once removed, and 
the literal sense appears all right — the numbers answering 
the full purpose for which they were used : as in the seal- 
ing of the servants of God, from the tribes of the children 
of Israel. (Rev. vii.) "We find the whole number sealed 
to be one hundred and forty-four thousand. This num- 
ber, we have shown, signifies the same as twelve, of 
which one hundred and forty-four is the square, and 
which, as has been shown, was the measure of a man, that 
is, of an angel. And as twelve denotes all goods and 
truths, so we thereby see the true character and quality 



168 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

of all the children of Israel who were prepared for heav- 
en : which teaches that, to be sealed for heaven, we must 
not be opposed to anything heavenly, but must yield to 
the influence of all goods and truths, in their multifarious 
operations, even as to all the little particulars of thoughts, 
feelings, and actions, expressed by one hundred and forty- 
four thousand. 

By this light are dispelled all the clouds of doubt that 
may arise from the idea that, of the enormous body of the 
children of Israel, able to send out six hundred and three 
thousand, five hundred and fifty warriors (Numbers i), 
there should have been but one hundred and forty-four 
thousand sealed for heaven ; and also from the fact that, 
though the twelve tribes were of various magnitudes, 
some containing more than twice the number of others, 
yet that each tribe should have had precisely the same 
number of good ones — twelve thousand. For, when we 
see that twelve thousand denotes simply the qualification 
of the members of each tribe for heaven, whether they 
were many or few, all is right. Therefore we learn from 
this spiritual sense that the one hundred and forty-four 
thousand saved were all that were good and true, without 
regard to natural numbers, and also that simply belong- 
ing outwardly to a body of the church does not save us. 
"We must bear the seal of twelve thousand in the forehead. 
We must be good and true. 

And so all the difficulties which the Bishop sees in the 
" war on Midian," noted in Part First of his work, num- 
bers 169 and 172, would soon be lost in spiritual light, if 
he saw the internal sense and felt its importance. For he 
would then see that, whatever may have been the natural 
facts in the various wars mentioned in the Word, the nar- 
ratives have been written and recorded for the sake of the 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 169 

spiritual sense, in order to teach men the way of life. 
And in seeing and receiving the spiritual light and life, 
his soul would be satisfied that he had found a true his- 
tory of mental wars — of the combats of goods and truths 
against evils and falsities in the human mind. He would 
see that the various nations, tribes, and sexes engaged 
denote principles of the mind ; that the numbers men- 
tioned denote the qualities of those principles ; and that 
the extent or size of the numbers is always governed pri- 
marily by the mental qualities of the nations, tribes, in- 
dividuals, or principles mentioned, rather than by the 
count of them. And then he would see, by the spiritual 
rule of arriving at mental qualities, that, where thirty 
thousand are mentioned, there may not have been over 
thirty individuals, or where five hundred thousand, not 
over fifty, and so forth ; and that the numbers had been 
extended for the sake of the innumerable qualities, com- 
binations, and shades of the various goods and truths or 
evils and falsities engaged, conquered, or killed in this 
mental warfare ; and of which the Lord, who ordered the 
record, could see the use that would eventually result 
from it. For Ave should consider that the Lord's Word 
must be eternal truth, and therefore adapted to all ages 
that are to come, and that its true spirit and life are yet 
to be clearly seen and felt. 

And then, as the Bishop would see that, in the " war 
on Midian," the instruction is applicable to man's regen- 
eration in the present day and in the ages to come ; and 
that the Israelites denote good and true principles of the 
internal mind, and the Midianites denote evil and false 
principles of the external mind ; and as he would further 
see that anyJiuman mind, of either sex, has both the 
male and female elements ; that the female elements of 
8 



170 THE COEEESPONDENCE OF NUMBEES. 

that mind are either goods or evils, or both, and that the 
male elements of the same mind are either truths or falsi- 
ties, or both ; and that this war on Midian we must all 
pass through in our regeneration — the Israelites, or good 
and true principles of the internal mind, fighting against 
the Midianites, or evil and false principles of the external 
mind ; — I say, as the Bishop would see aud receive this 
spiritual light and life of the Holy Word, he would be 
satisfied that he had found a true history of mental wars 
which purify the soul, and that the literal sense was in 
precisely the right language to express it. 

And having the understanding thus far opened, to be- 
hold the wonderful things written in God's law, the 
Bishop would be able clearly to see that, by the males of 
the Midianites, which we must all slay in this warfare, 
are meant all the falsities of the natural mind ; and the 
females, which Moses or the law commands us to slay, 
are all the evils of that mind ; while the young females, 
that we are to keep for ourselves, are all the remains of 
good, all the good, conscientious principles we may have, 
which have not been adulterated or perverted with falsi- 
ties ; and that these tender germs of heavenly affection, 
which the Lord has mercifully given us and thus far pro- 
tected, we are to take to our bosoms, and ever guard them 
from all harm. 

Thus seeing the beauty and use of the spiritual sense, 
and also the divine object in giving it ; and seeing, fur- 
ther, that God is often said, in the Word, to order or to do 
what He only permits to be done ; and, therefore, that 
whatever was wrong in the " war on Midian," was from 
the wickedness of man, and not from God, and was per- 
mitted in order to prevent some greater evil or to bring 
about some important good ; — I say, seeing this heavenly 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 171 

light, how changed would God's Word appear to the 
Bishop, and how flimsy and indefinite would become all 
his objections ! 

Arid so his inquiring heart would rejoice to see every- 
thing apparently unkind or unjust everywhere removed 
from the will of God in the spirit of His Word ; and par- 
ticularly from such passages as those of Deuteronomy 
xxi, 1, 2. And here he would see that, as every part of 
the body denotes something of the mind — the eye denot- 
ing the understanding ; the ear, obedience ; the nose, per- 
ception ; the hands, power ; the lips, language ; and so 
forth — so he would also see that the first verse points to 
the mentally wounded or maimed ; to such as have by 
sin destroyed their ability to propagate spiritual things — 
the goods and truths of the Word — for, without the ability 
or willingness to be instructed and to receive the truths of 
the Word into good ground, and to cultivate and bring 
forth the fruits of righteousness, men cannot be regener- 
ated so as to enter into the kingdom of heaven, or the 
" congregation of the Lord." Thus, how completely the 
apparent injustice of the letter is lost in the beautiful 
light of the spirit ! 

And equally are we rejoiced to see all unkindness re- 
moved from the second verse. For, in the spiritual sense, 
we see that any spiritual birth, springing not from the 
marriage of goodness and truth, must, in the divine light, 
be illegitimate and evil, and therefore could not enter 
heaven or be happy ; for, in order to do this, we must be 
born of God, or of goodness and truth. The church is 
goodness from God in the will : the Lord, as the husband 
of the church, is truth in the understanding : characters 
born of this parentage are the only true children of God. 
If men embrace the truths of the Word in their 'affections, 



172 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF NUMBERS. 

and humbly carry them out in their lives, they will be 
born of the spirit ; whatever may have been the character 
or marriage relation of their natural parents. 

Much sorrow and gloom have pressed upon the minds 
of certain individuals of former, ages, in consequence of 
these verses ; but, as intelligence and reason have ad- 
vanced, men have turned from such teachings and their 
gloom to the worse gloom of skepticism. Let them now 
return and embrace the spirit and life of the Word, and 
all their former and latter gloom will disappear. The 
Word will everywhere be found to be pure and holy, 
merciful and kind, just and reasonable. 

But it is not my intention, with the spiritual sense, to 
follow the Bishop through all his statements of difficulties 
in the letter ; but merely to glance at the fundamental 
principles of the Divine and human natures, and at the 
great living laws of creation and providence, laid down in 
the Holy Word, and sustained and illustrated therein 
through the means of His works, by the science of corre- 
spondences, whereby the truth and perfection of the 
Word may be irrefutably sustained, and the true interests 
of mankind rationally understood. 



CHAPTEK XIV. 

HEAT AND LIGHT: LOVE AND WISDOM. 

As heat and light are the highest and most prominent 
things used in correspondences, it will very much aid the 
student of the "Word to obtain clear and definite views of 
the relation which they bear to the Divine Love and "Wis- 
dom, that he may be able, as he proceeds in the divine 
study, to understand the beautiful analogy which exists 
in the Word between the influence of the Love and Wis- 
dom of God upon the human mind, in the production of 
everything good and true in the soul, and that of the heat 
and light of the sun, in the production of the things of 
nature, which are brought up in the Word to express 
those things of the soul. 

Now heat corresponds to Love or Life, and light to 
Wisdom or Truth ; and the Lord is called the Light and 
the Life. Spiritual Light and Life, then, are infinite 
things, and can be rationally approached by man, at this 
age of the world, only by the science of correspondences. 

JSTow there are various degrees of heat and light. 
There are spiritual heat and light, or love and wisdom, 
from the spiritual sense of the Word, for the internal 
mind of man, by which we look up to God and to the 



174 HEAT AND LIGHT : LOVE AND WISDOM. 

heavenly laws ; and there are natural heat and light, or 
love and wisdom, from the literal sense of the Word, for 
the external mind of man, by which we look out to our 
neighbors, and to the laws of civil truth and justice. 
And there are also material heat and light, by means of 
which we see and feel material things, through the senses 
of our material bodies. This material heat and light are 
the physical expressions of the Divine Love and Wisdom, 
and are the sensible manifestations to man in the flesh of 
those principles by correspondences. 

But the material heat and light are not real life and 
light, but only their effects and representatives. Yet, as 
the divine life and light are the cause, and are in the 
effect, the material heat and light are, therefore, perfect 
correspondences to the spiritual life and light of the 
Word. But the literal sense of the Word is also a body 
of natural Truth and Love higher than matter ; and which 
the spiritual sense infills, as its soul and life. Therefore, 
when our thoughts ascend above material heat and light 
to the literal sense of the Word ; we find in that sense a 
sure correspondence to a still higher or spiritual sense. 
That literal sense is the body which adapts the spiritual 
sense to our capacities by correspondence, just as the ma- 
terial heat and light are the material body which brings 
down those divine principles still lower, and adapts them 
to our bodily senses. 

We are now in the flesh, and are so low and natural 
that spiritual things have to be presented to us by corre- 
spondences, so as to be apprehended, even through ma- 
terial coverings. It was in consequence of this low state 
that the Lord, in order to reach us, had to come down 
into a material body, and reach us through the senses. 

Now the Divine Life and Light, or Love and Wisdom, 



HEAT AND LIGHT '. LOVE AND WISDOM. 175 

are, in themselves, Infinite. And man, being finite, can 
never see them as they are. He can only look toward 
them by correspondences. And these correspondences 
through which he looks must all be finite and adapted 
to his state. The divine Life and Light, therefore, have 
mercifully clothed themselves, by correspondences, in 
lower and still lower finite forms, adapted to the various 
states of men and angels, till they have come down to 
men on earth in material heat and light. 

The next form of them, above material heat and light, 
is the literal sense of the Word in its love and truth. But 
even these heavenly principles, as men see and feel them, 
are also finite. Yet they are filled with the infinite. 
And, as we look through them by correspondences to the 
life and light of the spiritual sense, we have a still higher 
and more complete view of the divine qualities. 

But no angel can see God, as He is in Himself. The 
higher we advance in purity, the more exalted will be the 
correspondences through which we look, and the more 
clear and heavenly the view. We can therefore have a 
rational but finite conception of something like the infi- 
nite life and light, through their effects, produced by 
natural life and light in the universe of mind ; and also 
by material heat and light in the universe of matter. 
Spiritual life and light are for the spiritual minds of men 
and angels ; natural life and light, for the natural minds 
of men and angels, and material heat and light, for the 
bodies of men on earth and material substances. 

But each lower degree has to be filled with the next 
higher, or it could not exist. The material must be filled 
with the natural, the natural with the spiritual, and the 
spiritual with the celestial — the Divine Essence and 
Fountain. 



176 HEAT AND LIGHT : LOVE AND WISDOM. 

Now, as spiritual life and light are far above all spirit- 
ual minds, and are the source of their existence and de- 
velopment ; and as natural life and light are far above all 
natural minds, and are the immediate source of their 
existence and development ; so material heat and light 
are far above all other material substances, and seem to be 
the source of their existence and development. But this 
is only an appearance. Material heat and light are mere 
instruments. But even as material substances, they are 
far beyond the reach of the natural sciences of the present 
age. We know not, from natural science, what are their 
intrinsic properties. 

Is it not a little remarkable that so common material 
substances as heat and light should, at this enlightened 
age, still remain beyond the reach of human sagacity or 
scientific research? There are many things in nature 
which correspond to love and wisdom, to which we can 
successfully apply the laws of analytical investigation ; 
such as land and water, or gold and silver, or oil and 
wine, which denote goodness and truth, and point us, by 
correspondence, to the two great divine elements — Love 
and Wisdom, or Life and Light. These natural sub- 
stances can be analyzed, and their properties defined ; 
but who can bring into his laboratory a ray of light, and 
extract from it its heat, and tell us what are the element- 
ary properties of the two parts, or of either part % 

Now heat and light are the first material substances in 
which the Divine Love and Wisdom clothe themselves, in 
correspondence, as they descend in the scale of being. 
But, as these divine elements descend, through spiritual 
substances, into material, and first clothe themselves in 
heat and light, they, even there in the robe of nature, 
leave us lost as to the nature and quality of the very 



HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM. 177 

matter in which thej express themselves to our senses ; 
thus leaving the material dress as much a matter of won- 
der to us as is the life which infills it, and to which it 
corresponds. Heat and light being only the first step 
below spiritual substances, are consequently the highest 
material substances. They are so high and so near the 
divine qualities, that when we attempt, by natural sci- 
ence, to analyze them, they are lost in the unspeakable 
glory of the infinite which they express. And they stand 
before the mind, and even the senses of man, as the most 
perfect correspondences, or the highest material symbols 
of the divine love and wisdom. 

As God Himself is Love, and as He, by His infinite 
wisdom, created the universe, and as He, in that love and 
wisdom, is the Great Heavenly Father who is ever warm- 
ing and illuminating the hearts and minds of angels and 
men ; so material heat and light seem, in their united 
power, to be the great parents of the material universe. 
All nature seems almost to worship the sun, and to look 
up to him for support and nourishment from his heat and 
light. The planets, in their revolutions, seem almost to 
do him homage. In his apparent, parental affections, he 
holds them in their orbits from going astray. They daily 
turn their faces to his genial sphere ; and in fable they 
might seem individually to say to their animal and vege- 
table offspring, " Look up, my children, to your glorious 
father, who warms you, and nourishes you, and gives you 
life and light." And when these planets, in their wan- 
derings and apparent forgetfulness of the source of life, 
find the cold frosts of seeming selfishness congealing their 
bosoms and stopping the vital action, then seemingly like 
the repentant sinner they turn their frozen sides to the 
parent sun, and yielding to the kind and creative sphere 
8* 



178 HEAT AND LIGHT: LOVE AND WISDOM. 

of his heat and light, he melts their frosts, warms their 
bosoms, tills them with animation and life, clothes them 
in new robes, adorns them with beantiful colors from his 
own beams, and blesses them with flowers and fruits ; and 
the song of joy and praise ascends from ten thousand 
choristers. And how precisely do these influences of the 
sun's heat and light upon the world of matter correspond 
to the operations of the divine love and wisdom upon the 
world of mind ! 

Yes, the sun is the first and highest svmbol in nature 

' CD 1/ 

of the Great Jehovah. And how perfect the correspond- 
ence ! No wonder that the heathen worshipped the sun. 
There he stands, in glorious majesty, in the physical firm- 
ament, an immense body of heat and light, filling the 
vast sphere of his system of worlds, with his own genial 
beams, holding everything in their places, and presiding 
like a father over his. family. And while there in his 
splendor, meeting the gaze of an inquiring world, he is 
sending down his properties to every living thing ; giving 
constantly to the material world the very elements of 
himself, the same as God gives His love and wisdom to 
the mental world. And yet, with all these generous con- 
tributions of the sun's nature, he remains the very puzzle 
and wonder of all human science. How he can exist and 
constantly give off a vast flood of material substances — 
how he can forever be giving himself away, and still re- 
main undiminished, is yet the astounding problem of the 
natural man. Thus, like our Heavenly Father, the sun 
is ever giving, and yet is ever full. Material heat and 
light, then, are yet above the reach of human science. 
"We can approach no nearer to physical heat and light 
than their effects. We behold the animal or the tree, 
when alive, and we look at them when dead. We mark 



HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM 179 

the change. But we know not the quality nor the sub- 
stance of the life that once animated them. Thus it is 
beyond the power of human reason and research ever to 
draw from nature alone the moving power and quality of 
her laws. She can never tell us how it is that she has 
life and light, nor what that light and life are. 

But there is an Author to nature. There is a Source 
from which nature springs. Now, man is neither that 
Author nor is he nature. He is the uniting link between 
the two. Man is human. Nature is not human. Hu- 
manity is free and rational. Nature is not free and ra- 
tional. Humanity can look upward or downward, back- 
ward or forward. Nature can look but one way — the 
way she goes. Man is designed for higher life. Nature 
is not. Man, as to his mincl, is both spiritual and natural. 
That mind is, therefore, connected internally with the 
spiritual world and with its God, and externally with its 
material body and with nature. Man is therefore capable 
of giving his affections and thoughts either to the things 
of this world, which are low and perishable, or to the 
things of the spiritual world, which are heavenly and 
eternal. Therefore, man is not always obliged to remain 
ignorant of the nature and quality of life and light, be- 
cause the natural sciences do not reach them. 

Man has a higher Teacher than nature. God is his 
Teacher. And though God speaks to him and teaches 
him through nature, yet He has also spoken to him in a 
direct revelation. And in this revelation of His Holy 
"Word, He makes known to us man's relation to nature, 
and also his relation to his God. And He gives him a 
science above all natural sciences — the science of corre- 
spondences, or of the relation of natural things to their 
causes — the relation which exists between mind and matter. 



180 HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM. 

By this science He teaches us to look through nature up to 
nature's God ; to read the invisible things of God from the 
creation of the world, through the things that are made. 

Man, therefore, is capable of making unlimited prog- 
ress in wisdom and knowledge. For, though he sees not, 
by natural science, what the sun is, nor what his heat and 
light are, nor how he gives them off undiminished, yet he 
may see, by the Divine truth of analogy, into higher re- 
gions of light ; he may see that the sun is the effect of 
the Divine love and wisdom in their operation for the 
creation of physical things ; that the Divine love and 
wisdom, flowing from the Great Jehovah, for the creation 
of lower things, first produce the natural sun ; that that 
sun is the first material ultimate or effect of the Divine 
efflux in the production of nature. And as the Divine 
love and wisdom are spiritual heat and light, and are 
ever flowing into the sun, producing natural heat and 
light, therefore the sun is always full, though constantly 
giving itself away in material heat and light. For, 
though the sun is ever giving off its substances, yet it is 
also ever being created ; because the cause which at first 
produced it is always producing it. For, as God is the 
same yesterday, to-day, and forever, so He is therefore a 
Creator yesterday, to-day, and forever. He is, conse- 
quently, from His love and wisdom, always creating the 
sun. And through the outflowing heat and light of that 
sun, as a means, the Lord is always creating the lower 
orders of things in nature. Thus the earth brings forth, 
and is ever teeming with new creations of animal and 
vegetable life. Suspend the influx of the Divine love 
and wisdom into that sun, and you would suspend the 
efflux of the sun's heat and light ; and darkness and 
death would follow throughout the entire solar system. 



HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM. 181 

But, it is asked, how this is known ? We answer, it is 
known from the science of correspondences, seen in the 
spiritual sense of the Holy Word. God Himself teaches 
it, not man. We are taught many times in the Word 
that heat and light correspond to love and wisdom ; by 
which we are also taught that love and wisdom are the 
direct cause of heat and light as an effect. From this 
simple fact alone may be drawn all the ideas we have ad- 
vanced on the subject. 

The Sun of Righteousness, of which we read in the 
Holy Word, is nothing but the concentration of the Di- 
vine love and wisdom in the spiritual world. And the 
natural sun, in our world, is constantly created and sus- 
tained by the Divine love and wisdom flowing from God, 
as that Sun of Righteousness, into the material sphere. 
God works by means ; and these means are always ac- 
cording to the science of correspondences. The opening 
of the Holy Word, by this Divine science, discloses to 
the mind of man a new source and field of instruction. 
The march of humanity, therefore, in the path of wisdom, 
must henceforth be more rapidly onward ; for the way 
must become more and more clear and bright. And the 
extent of the progress will be limited only by infinity. 
But to make this progress we must look up, and not 
down. We must look to God as our teacher. We must 
look into the science of correspondences, and the nature 
of the Divine language. We must seek a knowledge of 
the world of causes through the world of effects. We 
must seek a knowledge of our own internal will or heart's 
desires through the nature and character of our outward 
thoughts, feelings, and actions. And we should measure 
them all by the golden reed of truth, and weigh them in 
the scales of Divine justice. Thus we must become ac- 



182 HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM. 

quainted with the Divine laws, in their mental and phys- 
ical application to ourselves. And we must strive, dili- 
gently and faithfully, to conform our lives to those laws. 

A brief but comprehensive view of those laws may be 
always seen in their Divine summing up — love to God 
and the neighbor. And we may readily decide upon the 
character of any thought, feeling, or action, by applying 
this test : Was it done from love to God and the neigh- 
bor ? And would a world of such thoughts, feelings, and 
actions, produce heaven ? These are the test questions. 
And we must ever be conscious that we derive all our 
wisdom, power, and ability to conform to these laws, 
from the life and light of the Lord. 

" In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." 
(John i, 4.) Here the Word says the light of men is the 
life of God. The true light of men is the Divine truth. 
The life of the Lord is the Divine love, which gives all 
the Divine truth to men. To really have the light of 
men, then, so as clearly to see by it, we must possess the 
life. That life is the love of God and the neighbor : it is 
the love of goodness and truth. If we have not that life, 
the light, as declared in the Word, will shine in darkness, 
and the darkness will comprehend it not. If we have not 
the life, the light will condemn us ; and we cannot clearly 
see by it. We falsify it. And thus the light becomes 
darkness in us. And the Lord says of such, " If the light 
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !" If we 
have not that life or love of good, we then have the oppo- 
site life, the love of evil ; and this evil love falsifies the 
truth. 

But men may have, to some extent, the love of good 
or love of right, and still not clearly see the truth, for the 
want of proper instruction. And the Lord mercifully re- 



HEAT AND LIGHT I LOVE AND WISDOM. 183 

gards the conditions of men under all circumstances, and 
adapts His dispensations to their wants in every age of 
life. And now, when the world most needs it, He is 
giving to men the internal sense of the Word, and clear 
views of its doctrines ; that its light and life may be seen 
and felt ; so that the light may no longer shine in dark- 
ness, and the darkness comprehend it not. And it is our 
blessed privilege to live in this age, when that life and 
light are clearly made known. May we be truly sensible 
of this inestimable privilege ; and may we rightly im- 
prove it, by shunning all evils as sins against God, and 
letting our light so shine before men that they may see 
our good works, and glorify our Father who is in heaven. 
Then will our path grow brighter and brighter unto the 
perfect day. God will be merciful unto us, and bless ns, 
and show us the light of His countenance ; that His way 
may be known upon the earth, His saving health among 
all nations. 



CHAPTER XV. 

NEW BOTTLES FOR NEW WINE. 

As the one great study of man is the study of the 
human mind, God being connected with that mind, from 
above, and nature, from below, man being the intermediate 
plane, and the first receptacle of life ; therefore, if we would 
study divinity, we must study humanity in connection with 
God. For we can truly know nothing of God, or of His 
properties, except as they are received into the mind, and 
there understood and felt. "We can know nothing of 
heaven, or of hell, or of the spiritual world, but from the 
study of the human mind and of their operations there. 
Everything has to be learned there, whether good or evil, 
true or false. 

The human mind is the first free and rational recepta- 
cle into which things flow, from the Infinite Fountain. 
For, by the human mind is meant all the minds of angels 
and men — universal human nature. Before things enter 
the rational sphere of the human mind, w T e know nothing 
of them. The human mind is the great laboratory, into 
which all things must be brought, and analyzed, before 
they can be rationally known by any being but God. 

But as this human mind has both an external and an 



NEW BOTTLES FOR NEW WINE. 185 

internal, or a natural and a spiritnal plane, so it is capa- 
ble of exercising two forms of thought, by having two 
standpoints for looking at the same things, whereby the 
objects viewed are seen in either a natural or spiritual 
point of view. 

Now, it is in reference to these things that our Lord 
says, " No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old 
garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from 
the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do 
men put new wine into old bottles : else the bottles break, 
and the wine rumieth out, and the bottles perish : but 
they put new wine into new bottles, and both are pre- 
served." (Matt, ix, 16, 17.) For the doctrine or idea 
which we have of a thing is the bottle ; and the truth, con- 
tained in the idea, is the wine. And as the doctrines or 
ideas which we first form of things, whether civil, moral 
or religious, are all natural, therefore, they are the old 
bottles ; and the natural truth which fills them is the old 
wine. The new wine is the spiritual truth of the Word, 
which must be put into new bottles. 

The natural or literal truths of the "Word are adapted 
to the natural or external mind, and to time and space. 
And as time and space are appearances — and yet, to the 
natural mind, are as realities — so the literal truths of the 
Word, in order to reach minds that are thinking and act- 
ing as in time and space, have to be brought down into 
appearances. The external mind, connected as it is with 
the body, and thereby with time and space, and receiving 
all its first impressions through the senses of the body, 
cannot be, at first, educated and developed in any other 
way. But when the external mind is developed to man- 
hood, and its higher faculties begin to be called into exer- 
cise, man finds his apparent truths involved in mystery. 



186 NEW BOTTLES FOK NEW WINE. 

They rest in the world of effects, and do not reach the 
world of causes. They need an interpreter, before they 
can satisfy his mental wants. This is because man has a 
higher nature, a spiritual mind within, designed for the 
spiritual world ; and he desires to know the " whys " and 
" wherefores " of his being, and is asking for spiritual light 
— for new wine. 

But the spiritual mind is yet young, like a little child ; 
while the natural mind is " a strong man armed." And 
the spiritual truths require the strong man to give up his 
way of feeling, thinking, and acting, and to submit to the 
dictation and government of this child. The strong man 
is proud and selfish, and his mental appetites and habits 
are such that he does not relish this new wine. True 
there is much mystery about his old wine : but he has so 
adulterated it, by adapting it to his selfish feelings and 
habits of life, that he loves it better, in all its mysteries, 
than he does the new wine. " No man having drank old 
wine straightway desireth new" saith the Lord. Any- 
thing that is to revolutionize the whole mind, in its modes 
of thinking, feeling, and acting, or which is to change it 
from natural to spiritual, can only be slowly received and 
loved ; and to many, when first presented, it cannot be 
seen at all. When our Lord said to the Jews, "If a man 
keep my saying, he shall never see death," they could not 
drink that new wine. The old apparent truth, that the 
death of the body was the death of the man, was better 
wine to them. They therefore answered, " Now we know 
that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the pro- 
phets," &c. (John viii, 52, 53.) 

The Jews obeyed the commandments, in the letter ; 
but they kept them not in the spirit : they did not love 
them. And they were, consequently, bad men. And the 



NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WINE. 187 

world was perishing under their teachings. The Lord 
therefore came and established the Christian Church ; 
and He told His disciples that His words were spirit and 
life ; and that, if they would enter into life, they must 
keep the commandments. And now, after the lapse of 
more than eighteen centuries, how poorly are the com- 
mandments kept, even in the letter ; and how little are 
they lived and believed in, in the spirit ! True, in the 
simple letter, they are the way of life, and bring heaven 
into all souls that sincerely love and keep them. But 
how few, at this day, are willing to love and keep them ! 
And fewer still are willing to see that there is a spiritual 
sense in those commandments ; and that men can steal, 
and lie, and murder, and commit adultery, and break the 
Sabbath, and transgress every divine law with their souls, 
while their bodies are rigidly keeping those laws in the 
letter. Thus did the Jews. 

Let us then consider the necessity of new bottles for 
new wine, and the impossibility of receiving it into old 
bottles. "When the Lord says, " He that eateth my flesh 
and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life," the old bot- 
tle, or natural thought, presents us with the broken body 
and shed blood of the Lord as the ground of salvation 
through faith : but the new bottle or spiritual thought, 
presents us, by correspondence, with His offered goodness 
and truth, which the old bottle cannot receive, because it 
is a different idea. Therefore, from the new bottle, or 
spiritual thought, we eat the bread and drink the wine, 
as an assurance, that it is only by the actual reception of 
the goodness and truth of the Lord, into our souls, that we 
can be born again, or have eternal life in heaven : and 
also, that, by the continual reception and appropriation of 
these principles, we must grow up from small beginnings, 



188 NEW BOTTLES FOR NEW WINE. 

into full stature of men in Christ Jesus — from spiritual 
infants we must become full-grown men. 

. Hence, a great change is gradually coming over the 
Christian world. And it must continue till the Lord, ac- 
cording to promise, make all things new. Many persons 
are now seeing many things in the Word, in a very differ- 
ent light from that in which they were seen fifty years 
ago. This change is in consequence of a change of state 
and standpoint. One state looks at things through the 
old bottles ; and the other, through the new. Therefore, 
in the celebration of the Lord's supper, the thoughts and 
feelings of persons in natural thought differ very widely 
from those of persons in spiritual thought. For, in the 
literal thought, men receive the bread and wine as a 
memorial that Christ died for them ; and, in that act, they 
do show forth His death till He come. But, in the spir- 
itual thought, the Lord has come, as spiritual truth ; so 
that we no longer partake of that supper, to show forth 
Llis death till He come : but we receive the bread and 
wine, as symbols of the Lord's goodness and truth, re- 
ceived into the soul, at this, His second coming, as the 
spirit and life of that soul. In natural thought men re- 
ceive these aliments in commemoration of Christ's death 
and departure. In spiritual thought, we receive them as 
symbols of His life and second coming. In natural 
thought, men see the letter, only, of the Word, which is 
as a cloud, hiding the Lord till He come. Therefore, in 
His absence, they dwell much upon the death and suffer- 
ings of His body. In spiritual thought we see the Lord 
Himself, as the spiritual truth, coming in the clouds of 
heaven, or literal sense of the "Word, and we receive Him 
with joy and gladness, dwelling upon His goodness and 
truth as the living God, manifest. In natural thought, 



NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WLNE. 189 

men have done right, and their duty, in sincerely and 
piously worshipping the Lord, in this ordinance, according 
to their understanding of the letter, in showing forth His 
death till He come. And they will receive their reward. 
But, in spiritual thought, in order to do our duty, we 
now, instead of showing forth the Lord's death and 
absence, must show forth His life and presence ; by mani- 
festing His goodness and truth, in our feelings and ac- 
tions toward mankind. In natural thought, men have 
placed the salvation of the world upon the natural death 
and sufferings of the Lord, as a substitute for man's fu- 
ture punishment ; applying this salvation to the soul, by 
means of faith in the atoning merits of that suffering. 
While in spiritual thought, we place man's salvation upon 
the spiritual resurrection and life of Christ, in which He 
conquered death and hell in our nature, giving us precept 
and example, and the power of His Spirit, whereby we, 
through faith in His Word, can conquer death and hell, in 
ourselves, and rise from the spiritual death of the love of 
self and the world, to the spiritual life of the love of God 
and the neighbor, and thereby be washed, and made 
clean, in the blood of Christ ; or, in the life and power of 
the truth, constantly shed abroad from the risen and ever- 
living Lord, for the salvation of the world. 

In natural thought, from its darkness and obscurity, 
in their natural minds, men have become divided into 
various sects with conflicting views. In spiritual thought, 
from the clear and indisputable light, harmonizing the 
whole Word in its letter and spirit, all the people of earth 
will gradually be brought together, and will see eye to 
eye.. In natural thought, men suppose the Lord says, of 
His natural blood, " This is My blood of the New Testa- 
ment, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." 



190 NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WINE. 

In spiritual thought, we understand by His blood, the truth 
of the Holy Spirit, ever shed for the cleansing of souls. 
For, as the Holy Spirit is declared in the Word to be the 
spirit of truth ; what can be the blood of the New Testa- 
ment, which remits sins, but the life and power of the spir- 
itual truth, operating by means of the literal truth, cleans- 
ing the soul from all it's sins, by repentance, faith, charity, 
and obedience ? And what else can remit sins, or change 
men's hearts and minds and remove their evils, but the 
Spirit of the living God — the power of truth and love ? 
Christ remitted sins, cast out devils, and cleansed souls, 
while He was here in the flesh. And He did it by the 
blood of the New Testament, or by the power of the 
spirit of truth, operating through the natural truth upon 
their minds, until they saw their evils and, with great 
faith, broke off from their sins by righteousness. This 
great faith was faith in the blood of Christ ; or, in other 
words, it was faith in Christ's word and power. They 
believed what He told them ; and, believing it, they did 
it. They had no faith whatever in the blood of His 
natural body. It had not been shed. They had not the 
least idea, or thought, of any blood, in their minds. It is 
simply because the life and power given to the natural 
body operate by means of the blood, that the word 
" blood " is used, in Scripture, to denote the life and power 
of the soul. Herein is true correspondence. Faith, there- 
fore, in the power of Christ, is faith in the truth of His 
Word, as the wisdom of the Most High God. 

If, then, we have faith in the truth of His Word strong 
enough to induce us to repent of our sins, and break off 
from them by righteousness and, thereby, receive God's 
laws into our hearts ; we shall drink into our souls 
Christ's blood of the New Testament ; and, in the process, 



NEW BOTTLES FOR NEW WINE. 191 

it will, by means of the natural truth, cleanse and purify 
us from all sins. Therefore, the blood of Christ, which 
cleanses from all sin, is the spiritual truth of the "Word, 
operating by means of the natural truth ; and we must 
drink this spiritual truth, or have no life in us. 

Again, the common creeds of Christendom acknowl- 
edge the truth of a trinity in God. But one man sees that 
trinity in natural thought, as three distinct persons, and 
supposes that, in some mysterious way, they make one 
God ; while another, in spiritual thought, sees three dis- 
tinct elements of the one, undivided Jehovah. 

So, again, the one in natural thought, sees the Lord by 
faith coming again into the natural world in the natural 
clouds, to be seen by natural eyes : while the other, in 
spiritual thought, sees Him coming, as the Word, or spir- 
itual truth, into the mental world, or human mind, in 
mental clouds, to be seen by the understandings of men — 
the mental eyes. 

Again, the one in natural thought, sees a natural resur- 
rection ; a body rising up out of the grave, thousands of 
years after it had been buried, and uniting again with the 
soul ; the other, in spiritual thought, sees a spiritual body, 
rising from the natural body at death. The one in natural 
thought, looks at the man's body as the man ; and speaks 
of the man's being dead when the body dies : the other 
in spiritual thought, looks at the man's soul as the man, 
and speaks of him as alive when the body is dead. The 
one in natural thought, speaks of man's introducing sin 
into the natural world by his body's eating the fruit of a 
natural tree : the one in spiritual thought speaks of man's 
introducing sin into the world of mind, by his soul's eating 
of what is evil and false. The one in natural thought, 
looks upon heaven as a place of rewards, by outward com- 



192 NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WINE. 

forts and blessings ; and upon hell, as a place of punish- 
ment, by outward inflictions : while the one in spiritual 
thought looks upon heaven as a state of inward peace and 
happiness of mind, resulting from the love of good ; and 
upon hell, as a state of inward troubles and unhappiness 
of mind, resulting from the love of evil. Therefore, the 
one in natural thought looks upon the torments of hell as 
inflicted by God ; while the one in spiritual thought looks 
upon them as the result of the evils of the heart : conse- 
quently, the one in natural thought looks upon God as 
angry and revengeful toward the wicked ; while the one in 
spiritual thought looks upon the anger and revenge as 
being in the wicked man, who would judge of God accord- 
ing to what he would do himself. Thus, in order to reach 
angry men, and excite them to repentance and fear, God's 
Word comes clown to them, presenting Him as He appears 
to them to be. 

Again, the one in natural thought looks upon sin, as a 
wicked act ; upon repentance of sin, as sorrow for the act ; 
and upon the remission of sin, as the pardon of the pen- 
alty of the act : while the one in spiritual thought, looks 
upon sin as a depraved and evil desire ; upon repentance 
of sin, as sorrow for the desire ; and upon the remission 
of sin, as the removal of the desire : so that a person, 
whose sins are all remitted, is pure and holy — prepared 
for heaven. 

Thus, we see that the change from a natural to a spir- 
itual mode of thought, presents an entirely new view of 
all the doctrines of the Word. It turns the whole course 
of human life into a new channel of thought, feeling, and 
action. Well may our Lord have said, No man having 
drunh old vnne, straightway desireth new. 

The progress, therefore, of this mighty work, by which 



NEW BOTTLES FOR NEW WINE. 193 

the entire face of humanity on earth is to be turned up- 
ward from time and matter, toward God and heaven, 
must necessarily be slow. For the spiritual principles 
have to be embraced as a whole ; and that must be done 
by a full surrender of all the old bottles or doctrines, as 
unfit for the new wine. For, our Lord says, " No man 
putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment ; for 
that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, 
and the rent is made worse." (Matt, ix, 16.) The old gar- 
ment is the old doctrine ; the new garment is the new. 
The old is natural or apparent truth, adulterated by man ; 
the new, is spiritual or real truth. 

Now, you cannot take parts of two garments and put 
them together. The Lord says, " The new agreeth not 
with the old." If you take the new doctrine of the trin- 
ity, in one person, where " God is in Christ reconciling 
the world unto Himself," you cannot bring into the same 
garment the old idea, that God is out of Christ ; and 
Christ is reconciling God to the world and the world to 
God : for here are two persons. And Christ therefore 
must be either a finite man, or else there must be two 
Gods. 

Nor will any part of the old doctrine or garment agree 
with any part of the new. We must take the new, entire, 
as the Lord's vesture, woven without seam. For this ves- 
ture, or inner garment of the Lord, denotes the spiritual 
sense of the "Word, which is one perfect system of truths, 
harmonious and inseparable ; while the outer garments of 
the Lord, which were parted among the soldiers, denote 
the literal sense which has been parted among so many 
sects. 

And, in further confirmation of the same truth, our 
Lord says, again, " New wine must be put into new bot- 
9 



194 NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WINE. 

ties ; and both are preserved." Here, again, the new 
bottles are the new doctrines, and the new wine is the 
spiritual truth that infills them. This new wine cannot 
be contained in the old, perverted bottles or doctrines. 
For illustration : — Our natural idea is the bottle, and the 
truth in the idea is the wine. Now, the truth contained 
in the idea of the resurrection of a spiritual body, from 
the natural, at death, cannot be contained in the idea of 
the resurrection of a dead, natural body, from the grave. 
The spiritual truth cannot enter that natural idea or bot- 
tle. The moment that it does, the bottle is burst ; the 
idea is gone — lost in mystery. 

Now, we cannot, if we would, give up the entire old 
system of doctrines, and embrace the entire new system at 
once. " No man having drunk old wine, straightway de- 
sir eth new." "We first receive some leading feature of the 
new system. The reasonableness of its truth strikes us 
forcibly. But now all the various points, in the old sys- 
tem, are at war with it. But the new truth stands firm. 
And the more the old doctrines war against it, the strong- 
er it stands, and the weaker they become. For the new 
is developing its powers, and the old are exposing their 
weakness. And thus the strife goes on, till every old 
bottle, one after another, is burst or cast aside, and the 
new wine is joyfully received into new bottles, and both 
are preserved. 

But this takes time : for the new truth has all kinds 
of enemies to fight ; enemies without and enemies within 
— the hosts of hell and popular prejudice, and pride of 
heart, and self-love, and all the evils of humanity. But 
that is the way everything new and valuable to our race 
has had to struggle into being. And he is a valiant sol- 
dier of Christ who faithfully fights the battle. Therefore 



NEW BOTTLES FOE NEW WINE. 195 

the Lord says, " Work out your own salvation with fear 
and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you." 
" Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." " Be thou faithful unto death, 
and I will give thee a crown of life." And, in the doing 
of this work, the Lord says, " Behold, I make all things 
new." " Arise, let us go hence." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 

Much and important instruction is given, in the 
Word, in the nse of the term ' salt.' But that instruction 
cannot be rationally seen and felt by the soul, without a 
knowledge of the spiritual sense. Indeed there is much 
general obscurity and, sometimes, apparent absurdity in 
the natural ideas alone expressed. But, as the spiritual 
light is seen, the darkness disappears amid the glory and 
beauty of the Divine Wisdom. Thus, when the Lord says 
to us, " Have salt in yourselves," we have no light till we 
see the .correspondence of salt : and to see this, we must 
find out what principle in the mind would perform the 
same use to the affections and thoughts, which salt does 
to natural things. 

Now, we all know that salt preserves meat from putre- 
faction. The fibres of the meat denote truths ; and the 
vessels denote goods. The salt cleanses these vessels and 
fibres, by removing all the lifeless blood and other impure 
substances, and bringing them into close union and em- 
brace. Now, because salt does this, it denotes the union 
of goodness and truth by regeneration. ,This is the speci- 
fic signification of salt, when used in a good sense, in the 






THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 197 

"Word. It denotes the union of goodness and truth in the 
human mind. For goodness and truth, united in the 
mind, bring together all the affections and thoughts ; 
while, at the same time, they expel everything impure 
and uncongenial, and unite the whole in a state of har- 
mony and preservation. 

Now, as salt is the great preservative, in nature, of 
things from decay and rot, by its purifying and uniting 
qualities, so it is, therefore, the very thing in nature which 
denotes the union of goodness and truth in the mind. 
For, without this union, the human mind must inevitably 
fall into a state of spiritual putrefaction and death. Thus 
we see that new and important light beams from the 
Holy Word, by simply knowing the correspondence of salt. 

We can now understand, specifically, what our Saviour 
means when He commands us to have salt in ourselves. 
He means that we must love the Word of Life ; that 
goodness in the heart must be united with truth in the 
head. 

Again, the Lord says, in Mark, " Every one shall be 
salted with fire." Fire denotes love ; hell fire, love of 
evil ; heavenly fire, love of good or truth. A person with 
truth in his head only, and not in his heart, should be 
salted with fire. Love is goodness in action. Let him 
unite love with the truth, and the work is done. When 
a person is in the possession of the truth, which does not 
satisfy him, let him obey it till he loves it, and he will 
salt that truth with fire ; he will unite it to his heart, and 
all will be peace. And we read, in Judges, that Abime- 
lech sowed a city with salt : so, we should bring our 
hearts into love and obedience to the doctrines of the 
Word, and thus sow our city with salt. 

In Kings, we read, that the men of Jericho said unto 



198 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 

Elisha, " Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is 
pleasaDt, as my lord seeth : but the water is naught, and 
the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, 
and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And 
he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the 
salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed 
these waters ; there shall not be from thence any more 
death or barren land." (2 Kings ii. 19-21.) Now we 
cannot see why salt put into the spring should make the 
land of a city fruitful. But when we look into the spirit- 
ual sense, and see that the city denotes doctrines, the water, 
the truth of the doctrines, and the land, the good of them ; 
all becomes instructive, clear, and practical. For the 
water, or truth of the doctrines, was naught or worthless, 
because it was not loved ; and the land, or good of the doc- 
trines, barren, because separated from the truth. The soil 
'or good of the human heart will not bear fruit unless the 
truth comes into it, or is loved, any more than natural 
land will bear crops without rain or water. But as salt 
denotes the union of goodness and truth ; the putting of 
the salt into the water, by the prophet, denotes the union 
of goodness and truth in the mind by the Lord, or the 
Word. And then the Lord says, " I have healed these 
waters ; " that is to say, the truths are no longer lifeless 
and unhealthy, for they are loved. And, therefore, the 
Lord continues, " There shall not be from thence any 
more death or barren land ; " that is, the soul will no 
longer be dead in sin, nor the heart unfruitful. For good- 
ness and truth are now united in the mind ; the man is 
spiritually alive, and brings forth the fruits of righteousness. 
Salt, like other things of the Word, is sometimes used 
in an opposite, or bad sense ; as is fire, which sometimes 
denotes love of good, and sometimes love of evil ; and 



THE COKKESPONDENCE OF SALT. 199 

water denoting either truth or falsehood ; a city, either 
true or false doctrines ; and so forth. But we may see at 
once, by the light in which a term is used, whether it is to 
be taken in a good or a bad sense. So salt, when used in 
the Word, means either the union of goodness and truth, 
or their disunion. It is used, in both senses, many times 
in the Holy "Word. In the case of Lot's wife it is, of 
course, used in a bad sense, which is known from the fact 
that Lot's wife disobeyed the command of the angel by 
looking back. And, from that circumstance, she is said to 
have become a pillar of salt. Now by this pillar of salt 
is meant the disjunction of goodness and truth in the 
mind of Lot's wife. These divine principles had been 
united in her. She had loved the truth. But she dis- 
obeyed its commands, and thus turned away her affections 
from it. This disjunction of her heart from the truth is 
what is meant by the pillar of salt. That pillar stands 
recorded in the pages of Holy Writ, as an eternal monu- 
ment of the folly and wickedness of turning our affections 
away from the divine truth, and thereby losing love to 
God and the neighbor. God has made that pillar a 
most bold and conspicuous mark, in the journey of hu- 
man life, cautioning the wayward traveller against violat- 
ing the laws of his God, and thereby separating his affec- 
tions from the truths of the Holy Writ. 

In examining the subject of Lot's wife and the pillar 
of salt, about which so much has been. written and- said, 
let us remember that we are not talking about natural 
salt, nor a material body, but of that principle of the mind 
to which salt corresponds, and which, in the Divine Word, 
is called salt. And, in the first place, let us see what 
really constituted Lot's wife, and forget not that it takes 
a soul, as well as a body, to make a wife. Ar^no-w, as 



200 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 

we see that the body without the soul would not be Lot's 
wife, and as mind cannot be transmuted into matter, 
therefore, we see, that it would be impossible for Lot's 
wife to become a pillar of natural salt. Besides, the Bible 
teaches that our material bodies are not really ourselves, 
but tabernacles of clay, in which we dwell. 

They who elevate their thoughts above the dust they 
tread upon, must surely see that it was the understandings 
and the wills, the knowing and the loving principles in 
Lot and his wife, which became wedded, and which consti- 
tuted them truly man and wife. 

But let us view the subject from another standpoint ; 
one which presents a very general mode of expression in 
the Holy Word. From this position we see that men are 
sometimes called foxes, sometimes bears, dogs, serpents, 
trees, rivers, and many other things. ISTow, it does not 
mean that the bodies of men are foxes, dogs, trees, or 
rivers, for they have men's bodies. It is then the state 
of their souls that is meant, for this is the divine way of 
describing the various affections, feelings, passions, and 
principles of the human mind. !Nbw, if the Bible calls 
Herod a fox, and Dan a lion's whelp, and the king of 
Assyria a river, and Pharaoh a cedar of Lebanon, with- 
out meaning that their bodies are those things, could it 
not, by the same law of language, call Lot's wife a pillar 
of salt, without meaning that her body was transmuted 
from flesh and bones into salt ? Indeed, if the expression, 
pillar of salt, does not teach something of the state 
of Lot's wife's soul, it contains no practical truth, and is 
void of spirit and life. And if there be no spirit and life 
in it, if it be not " profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for 
correction and for instruction in righteousness," it is not 
the Word of God. There must be some analogy, there- 



201 

fore, between the pillar of salt and the state of Lot's wife's 
mind ; and that analogy is the thing to be sought after in 
order to find out what the Lord teaches by the expression. 
And that analogy is clearly seen by means of the spirit- 
ual signification of salt, which shows, conclusively, that it 
means the separation of her affections from the truth. 
And that this was the case with Lot's wife ; that her 
heart had turned away from the truth, is clearly seen, in 
the light of correspondence, by the act of her looking 
hack. The narrative says, u His wife looked back from 
behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." There is 
therefore a positive relation between the formation of the 
pillar of salt and the looking back. And as the pillar of 
salt denotes the separation of goodness and truth in Lot's 
wife, we clearly see its verification in the act of looking 
back. For truth is the male element of the mind, and 
goodness is the female element. 

Now, every mind has these two elements. Their 
union in the mind gives spiritual life ; their separation, 
spiritual death. The man or husband is, by correspond- 
ence, a symbol of the truth ; and the woman, or wife, is a 
symbol of goodness. Sodom and Gomorrah denote a 
false and evil state of mind. Lot and his wife were going 
away from those cities. Lot was before his wife. Truth 
leads the way. She looked back from behind him. He, 
the husband, denotes the truth : she, the wife, denotes 
goodness. The face denotes the affections. When she 
turned her face or affections toward Sodom or Gomorrah, 
or toward things evil and false, she had her back toward 
Lot, or the truth. This act, by correspondence, signifies 
an entire disunion of goodness and truth in Lot's wife. 
For, as he was a symbol of the truth and she of goodness, 
it teaches that she had turned away from the truth, or 
9* 



202 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 

abandoned it. Her spiritual state, therefore, according 
to the sure science of correspondences, would be emphat- 
ically expressed by a pillar of salt. 

Besides, she looked toward Sodorn and Gomorrah. 
These cities denote an entire state of the love of self and 
the world. The fire and brimstone denote the burning 
of anger, lust, revenge, and hatred, of the people of those 
cities ; or of false doctrines. In that act of Lot's wife we 
have a view of the fall. And it seems, by the narrative, 
that the change in her state was sudden, like an act of 
turning around. But it takes years to separate entirely 
the affections from truth. So the Fall in the garden 
seems to be sudden, like the eating of an apple ; and yet 
the Fall which there commenced was not completed till 
the Lord came in the flesh. And both of these Falls are 
of the same character — the separation of goodness and 
truth. The will, or female element, first moves. One is 
symbolized by eating forbidden fruit, and the other by 
looking back to things evil and false. 

Now if salt, in the "Word, does not mean what I have 
here stated, what does it mean ? The Lord has endowed 
us with reason, and says, " Come now, let us reason to- 
gether." And He says, to good people, " Ye are the salt 
of the earth." Now, let us reason : — Does it mean salt ? 

Again, He says, " Every sacrifice shall be salted with 
salt ; " and that " The sacrifices of God are a broken spir- 
it." Does it mean salt ? Again, " Have salt in your- 
selves." Does it mean salt? Joshua speaks of a city 
of salt. Does it mean salt ? Moses says, " The sons of 
Ammon shall be a forsaken place of nettles, and a pit of 
salty Does this mean salt ? Moses, again, says, " Lot's 
wife became a pillar of salt." Does this mean salt ? No. 
The spiritual sense of these passages opens to us a new 



THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 203 

and rational light, and presents us with living, practical 
truth. And how pointed and impressive is the lesson 
which we are taught in this event of Lot's wife, and by 
the meaning of salt ! For when we examine poor human 
nature in the present age, by this spiritual light, how con- 
spicuously do the pillars of salt stand out in the highway 
of life, as impressive statuary of caution,, admonishing us to 
turn, neither to the right hand nor to the left, from the 
path of virtue. For every individual, whoever he may be, 
and whatever he may profess, who has the truth and who 
knows his duty, but who turns away from that truth and 
refuses to love and obey it, may see himself in the history 
of Lot's wife. For it is for this purpose that the narrative 
was recorded. Such a person is, spiritually r , a pillar of 
salt, with his face toward Soclom and Gomorrah. 

But, though sad the picture of fallen and perverse hu- 
manity when we look at its dark side, yet a brighter day 
for the race is dawning. And as it is generally darkest 
and coldest just before sunrise ; so, many, who are now in 
states of doubt and apathy, may, ere long, behold with 
joy the glories of the rising sun of an eternal day. For 
the seals of the Holy Word are being broken, and light is 
coming forth, suited to the wants of the age. It comes, 
not only to show us our evils and their nature, origin, and 
effects ; but, also, a rational way to get rid of them, and 
a conviction that, unless we do get rid of them, they will 
surely be our ruin. Thus a new and living way is open- 
ing before us. "We can now see what to do, and how to 
do it. The fogs of mystery, which have so long darkened 
the path of life, are passing away before the beams of the 
rising Sun which ushers in the glorious day of peace and 
love ; a day when the human race will have salt in them- 
selves, and thus be the salt of the earth. And for the fur- 



204 THE CORRESPONDENCE OF SALT. 

therance of this object we now say, in the beautiful words 
of the apostle, " Let your speech be always with grace, 
seasoned with salt." Or let your words be always true, 
gently spoken, coming from the heart. " Have salt in 
yourselves, and have peace one with another." 



CHAPTER XVII. 

CORRESPONDENCE OF WATER : AND A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS, 
FROM THE CASE OF JONAH, SWALLOWED BY A GREAT FISH. 

One of the leading features of the Word is water. 
This is because water is a symbol of the Divine truth — 
the great element of the human mind, of which the Word 
everywhere treats. Water is sometimes mentioned as a 
means of life, and sometimes of death. This is because, 
in a bad sense, it denotes falsehood ; and in that sense it 
is spoken of as destroying men by a flood, as in the Mo- 
saic deluge. And so in Ezekiel, where, prophesying of 
the church and its doctrines, the Word says, " Thus saith 
the Lord Jehovah, When I shall make thee a desolate 
city, like the cities that are not inhabited ; when I shall 
bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover 
thee ; when I shall bring thee clown with them that de- 
scend into the pit, with the people of olden time." (xxvi, 
19, 20.) Here we have a flood similar to the Mosaic : the 
city denoting the doctrines of the church ; the people, the 
members ; and the waters, falsehoods. And the prophecy 
declares that they shall be destroyed like, the people of 
olden time, alluding to the flood. And as the Jewish 
church was not destroyed by a natural flood, and yet 



206 A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

shared the same fate of the people in the days of Noah, so 
both floods must have been by falsehoods. And in many 
other places waters are mentioned as inundating and de- 
stroying the church. 

JS r ow the sea, when mentioned in the Word, denotes 
knowledge in the human mind, whether that knowledge 
be true, false, or mixed. Every man, therefore, has his 
sea of knowledge within the shores of his memory. This 
sea is made up of all that he knows. All the sources of 
information which he has are as springs or wells of water ; 
and the knowledges he is gaining from them, whether sci- 
entific, civil, or religious, are so many streams running 
into the sea of his memory. 

In this sea of knowledge he lives and moves, as a fish 
in the ocean. Out of it he could not stir nor breathe ; for 
he would know nothing, and have no life. And so a 
community has its sea of knowledge, out of which it can- 
not move. This human knowledge was the sea in which 
the apostles were to fish, when the Lord called them to 
be fishers of men. For men can be caught only within 
the sea of their own knowledge ; because the net or hook 
of truth must take hold of their free wills and understand- 
ings. Thus there is no stratagem in this fishing. Men 
are brought within the stronghold or power of the truth 
rationally and voluntarily. When we clearly understand 
the scripture where Peter was told, by the Lord, to go to 
the sea and cast a hook, and take up the first fish that 
came up, and that when he had opened his mouth he 
would find a piece of money, we behold a beautiful illus- 
tration of the effect of the Divine truth upon the human 
mind that heartily receives it. For the fish denotes a 
man affectionately receiving the truth of the Word. This 
truth is spiritual riches, represented by money. And he 



A WOKD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 207 

who heartily receives this truth — these riches — will gladly- 
open his mouth and speak the truth. The precious treas- 
ures of the Gospel will be ever found upon his tongue and 
his lips. Yes, whenever Peter, the rock upon which the 
Lord builds His church — the Divine truth — comes to the 
sea of man's knowledge, and takes hold of his heart by 
the power of the "Word, that man w T iil open his mouth 
and present to the Lord the tribute money of praise and 
thanksgiving, of truth and justice. 

This mental sea is the real one from which we are to 
be spiritually instructed, where the disciples were com- 
manded by the Lord to " cast the net on the right side of 
the ship." For, whatever the 'outward transactions may 
have been, we must look through them and above them 
into the world of mind. There we must find the sea of 
knowledge, the ship of doctrines, and the net of the 
truth ; and thus we must see the fishers of men going, by 
means of the doctrines of the "Word and in the power of 
the truth, to the understandings of the people, to draw 
them, by the spirit of the Lord, into the kingdom of 
heaven. ' 

As the natural ship, which is a beautiful symbol of 
the doctrines of the Holy Word, by which we are carried 
across the troublous sea of life to the peaceful haven of 
heavenly rest, floats upon the surface of the natural sea, 
so we are taught that the doctrines were above, and not 
in, the sea of knowledge in which the apostles were to 
fish, or to teach, in order to catch men. But as man re- 
ceives the doctrines of love to God and the neighbor, he 
will be raised above the sea of natural truth into spiritual 
light, where he will feel the influence of the Holy Spirit, 
as the natural ship feels the breeze. While man is im- 
mersed in the things of this world, in the sea of self-wis- 



208 A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

dom, lie cannot feel that heavenly influence. But as he 
is elevated, he comes from the love of natural things into 
the love of spiritual ; he is in a new atmosphere of 
thoughts and feelings : the spiritual plane of his mind is 
opened to understand the truth, and to feel the power of 
the spirit. 

The net with which the apostles were fishing denotes 
the power of the Spirit of Truth. All the varieties of the 
principles of truth, in the whole doctrines, are there rep- 
resented as brought together and interwoven into a net 
as one. And when the truths of the Word, in their com- 
bined strength, are seen and understood, and are thence 
brought to take hold on the heart, to circumscribe, con- 
trol, and direct the actions ; there is great power in them, 
and men feel and acknowledge their force and influence. 

But why are we commanded to cast the net on the 
right side of the ship ? The natural body is the proper 
representative of the mind. And, throughout the entire 
Word, the right organs of the body have relation to 
things of the will, and the left organs to things of the 
understanding. E"ow, as the ship denotes doctrines, and 
the net the combined powers of doctrines, and as the 
right side of the ship denotes the love of those doctrines, 
and the left side the understanding of them ; therefore, to 
cast the net on the right side of the ship would be to 
teach the truth of the doctrines from the heart — from the 
love of those doctrines and the love of the neighbor. 
Therefore, we are here taught that if we would come 
effectually to men, we must come, not only to their intel- 
lects, but also to their hearts. The net cast on the left 
side of the ship, or from the understanding only, will 
have no controlling power. The reason is, there will be 
no life in it, no love, nothing to win the heart, nothing to 



A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 209 

induce men to enter. Men do not like to have the cold 
cords of restraint and dictation thrown around them, 
against their wills. Truth alone is always inefficient. It 
must come from the heart, in kind, persuasive, and gentle 
influences. It must reach the feelings and the sympa- 
thies by carrying with it the feelings and the sympathies. 
The net must be cast on the right side of the ship. 

The narrative says, that when Peter heard that it was 
the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat about him, for he was 
naked, and cast himself into the sea. ISTow, coat means 
outward deportment. A true fisher's coat is a heavenly 
robe of true sincerity and kindness. It is a sphere of 
goodness and mercy which we like to see in the conduct 
of a teacher. 

Peter was naked, that is, his self-righteousness was ex- 
posed. He had not on the robe of true righteousness. Pie 
was teaching from his own understanding alone — from 
the left side of the ship. The Lord was not in his heart. 

But when the Lord stood upon the shore, there was a 
new state of things. For the Lord upon the shore was 
the truth in the heart. The land corresponds to the will. 
Thus the truth began to be loved. And when the truth 
was really in the disciples' hearts ; when they loved and 
depended upon the Lord, and acted from His spirit, they 
cast the net on the right side of the ship : then Peter 
could -put on the robe of truth and love, and go down 
into the sea of the people's minds, and meet them accord- 
ing to their states. While the Lord was not on the shore, 
while Jesus was not in their feelings, the robe was not on, 
and it was mental darkness and night with them. They 
had been fishing all night, and had caught nothing. But 
the Lord on the shore, or the truth loved, brought the 
morning light into the soul, and they were now ready to 



210 A WOED TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

approach men aright, or from the heart. Before the Lord 
was on the shore, the disciples were in spiritual hunger, 
as well as in nakedness and darkness. For the Lord said 
nnto them, " Children, have ye any meat % They an- 
swered Him, No." But when the Lord was in their 
heart, and they had cast the net on the right side of the 
ship, and it was filled with fishes, and the disciples had 
come to the land, or to the love of goodness, " they saw a 
fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread." 

Now it is worthy of note that these things are men- 
tioned as occurring after the Lord had risen from the sep- 
ulchre, and that this fire and fish and bread are of the 
Lord's providing, and not the fish that they had caught ; 
they had not yet drawn the net to land. The fire de- 
notes the Divine love ; the fish, scientific truths of the 
"Word, and the bread, the good of those truths. Now, as 
fishes denote scientific truths, so the fishes caught in the 
net of the Holy Word denote persons receiving those sci- 
entific truths of the doctrines. Such persons represent 
fishes, because their minds are being exercised with the 
scientific truths to which fishes correspond. It may be 
asked why fishes denote scientifics. "We answer, It is 
because water denotes truth, and water is said in Genesis 
to bring forth the fishes ; therefore they must correspond 
to something that truth brings forth. And as all real 
sciences are produced from truth, so sciences are nothing 
but truths brought down into rational forms or rules of 
thought, for practical illustrations. And fishes are beau- 
tiful correspondences to those scientific truths ; because 
all sciences are developed and exercised in the sea of 
man's knowledge, the same, by correspondence, as fishes 
are developed and exercised in the natural sea. And 
how much science it must require to understand the form 



A WOKD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 211 

and use of simply the bones that are in fishes and their 
application to the water for movement. There is nothing 
else in nature that so fully represents scientific principles 
as the fishes do. Ichthyology, therefore, may be called a 
science which looks into scientific principles. The net, 
which holds the people caught, denotes the combined 
strength and power of those truths, when received from 
the right side of the ship, or from the influence of the 
love of those doctrines. And the disciples, now on the 
land with the Lord, or, in other words, feeling the good 
of the Lord's love in their hearts, are enabled to see the 
coals of fire, and fisb laid thereon, and bread ; that is, 
they are in a state to understand that the Lord gives, 
from His love, scientific truths and goods to men. And 
while their minds are in this clear state of perception, 
they feel a yearning love for the people in the net, or for 
persons interested in the doctrines. This feeling is de- 
noted by the Lord's saying, " Bring of the fish which ye 
have now caught." They feel a yearning desire for their 
salvation. And from this high state of spiritual affection 
and power, they can reach the heart of those in the net ; 
and they are thus drawn to the land, or come into the 
love of the good of the doctrine. And under this state of 
things the disciples feast their own souls upon these scien- 
tific goods and truths. This is denoted by its being said 
that " Jesus then cometh and taketh bread, and giveth 
them, and fish likewise." 

Now, this mental sea is the one into which Jonah was 
cast when he was swallowed by a great fish. Jonah was 
commanded by the Lord to go to Nineveh, and cry 
against it for its wickedness. But Jonah disobeyed this 
command, and started for Tarshish, from the presence of 
the Lord. We must now try to forget Jonah's body, and 



212 A W0ED TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

look into his mind for all the things that take place ; re- 
membering that all natural things denote things of the 
mind, and that places denote states of mind : heaven, 
a happy state ; hell, a miserable state ; Jerusalem, a true 
state. And that to go from one place to another means 
to advance from one state of mind to another. 

As a city denotes doctrines, so Nineveh, in this chap- 
ter, denotes a state of mind in false doctrines, which can 
be overcome, if man will go to Nineveh, or look into his 
state, and cry against his falses, or fight them. This we 
may know, because Jonah was commanded to go there, 
and cry against its sinful principles. It was Jonah him- 
self that was in this false state of mind denoted by Nine- 
veh. He had some good natural principles, but they 
were asleep. God wanted him to arise, wake up, and go 
to Nineveh ; that is, to examine into his condition, and 
fight against his false propensities. And so the Lord 
now says to all who are resting quietly in their falses and 
evils, " Arise, and go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry 
against it." 

But, instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah rose up to 
flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Now 
Tarshish denotes an external or natural state of mind, 
which trusts in man's goodness. This we may see, be- 
cause, in going to Tarshish, it says he went from the 
presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord is a state 
of mind looking toward the Lord. And as Tarshish was 
away from the Lord, it denotes a state of mind looking 
away from the Lord toward self. Therefore it says he 
went to Joppa, and took ship for Tarshish. 

Now, ship denotes doctrines, because it is a universal 
law of correspondences that anything by which our bodies 
are carried denotes doctrines, by which our souls progress. 



A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 213 

Ship for Tarshish denotes doctrines of naturalism ; trust- 
ing in one's own wisdom and goodness : doctrines which 
lead away from the Lord. This we may see, because it 
says he entered the ship, and paid his fare. To pay his 
fare is to give his consent to the doctrines. Joppa de- 
notes a state of mind prepared to embrace those doctrines, 
because it was here that Jonah entered the ship, or em- 
braced those principles, which were to take him to Tar- 
shish, from the presence of the Lord. 

Thus Jonah was fairly on board the ship of natural- 
ism, sailing for Tarshish, or going away from the Lord. 
The mariners, to manage the ship, were all the best natu- 
ral principles of his mind. They were principles which 
still had in them some natural good — some regard for na- 
ture's God. The sea upon which he was sailing was the 
general sea of his own knowledge. And while thus going 
his own way, in the absence of God and His laws, a storm 
of warring elements arose, in the sea of his self-wisdom ; 
and doubts and darkness came over the horizon of his 
mind. This condition called up into action all the re- 
maining principles of good in his soul. These principles 
of good began to feel that their ship of naturalism was 
trembling, and ready to break to pieces. But Jonah's 
self-wisdom overruled. By this we are taught that Jo- 
nah's natural judgment was losing all confidence in any 
religion whatever. The mariners — the better, active 
principles of his natural heart — were contending against 
his skepticism of the head and its evils; and the sea of 
his whole mind was in commotion. Thus it is that when 
we deliberately turn away from the Lord, and disregard 
the better principles of our heart, and let the external 
and selfish judgment rule, we come into great darkness 
and distress. Such was Jonah's mental condition. 



214 A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

In this state of mind he says, " Take me up, and cast 
me forth into the sea." That is, the external man, the nat- 
ural reason, says to the deeper and better principles, Let 
me go my own way — cast me into the sea ; I will rest in my 
own wisdom ; my own self-knowledge is sufficient for me 
— I know best. Thus the selfishness of the natural man 
ruled ; the better principles or remains gave up, and Jo- 
nah became immersed in the sea of his own false views. 
In this condition, the narrative says, " The Lord had 
prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah." But the 
Lord is often said, in the "Word, to do what He permits, 
only, to be done. So the Lord permitted Jonah to be 
swallowed by the fish of his own production ; by his own 
skepticism. For this great fish was false science. It was 
complete infidelity. Jonah may be said to have come to 
the conclusion that the outward senses of man tell us all 
that we can know ; that the Bible is a dark fable ; that 
nature is all there is ; and that man ends his existence 
with the death of the body. 

How long a period of time Jonah spent, in passing 
through his changes, and embracing his infidelity, we 
know not. But he had come to a most wretched spirit- 
ual condition. And for the want of a true mental philos- 
ophy — a rational science of theology — how many strong 
minds, within the last century, have passed through Jo- 
nah's experience, until they found themselves engulfed in 
infidelity ; in the very belly of false, self-derived intelli- 
gence. For theology has not been looked upon as phil- 
osophical or rational. The reasoning faculties of men 
have had but little to do with it. And yet, theology is, 
most truly, a philosophical science ; the most beautiful 
of all sciences. It is only by the science of theology, that 
we can truly learn and understand the science of the hu- 



A WOED TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 215 

man mind. There is no mental philosophy without it. 
For that philosophy is based npon the science of corre- 
spondences — the trne science of all real sciences — showing 
the relation between mind and matter, God and nature, 
the soul and the brain, the mind and the body. It was 
the want, therefore, of a rational knowledge of first 
principles, or of God and His laws, as revealed in His 
Holy Word, which left the human mind to wander in 
the mazes of its own wisdom, till lost in doubt and dark- 
ness. When, therefore, we see a man who has not become 
acquainted with the philosophy of theology, but who, by 
the strength and activity of his own natural judgment, 
has reasoned himself, by a false, natural philosophy, into 
the belief that there is no life after death ; that man dies 
like the brute ; or that the Bible is the work of cunning 
priests ; or that there is no God, but Nature ; or that man 
is governed by circumstances and motives beyond his con- 
trol, and is consequently irresponsible ; — I say, when we 
see this, we find a Jonah swallowed by a great fish. We 
find a man buried in the darkness of false science ; in the 
gloom of self-wisdom. But we find, indeed, a wretched 
creature, with no ray of hope before him ; nothing but 
darkness, and death, and extinction. He is truly in the 
midst of a great fish, at the bottom of the sea of his own 
wisdom ; with no light of truth to see, and no air of heav- 
en to breathe. And we know of no way of escape from 
this condition, but to turn, as did Jonah, to the Lord, and 
pray out of the depths of this hell. But, in this age of 
skepticism — this age of Jonahs, swallowed by great fish 
— such men can be reached and led into this prayerful 
state, only by the exercise of the rational faculty, in the 
light of the true language — the Divine Language. I 
know of nothing else but the power of the Spirit of God's. 



216 A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

Holy Word, rationally brought to bear upon their minds, 
that can possibly reach their case. But the Lord has mer- 
cifully provided for their wants, in the spiritual light of 
His Word. 

Now, it is by no means my object to teach, that Jonah 
either was, or was not, swallowed by a fish. That is a 
matter that does not concern us. God gives us His 
Word, essentially, for spiritual teaching. But it is my 
object to show what practical truth God would teach us, 
by this history. For, whatever may have been the condi- 
tion of Jonah's body, it is certain that the spiritual sense 
of the narrative gives the state of his soul ; and for this 
purpose it has been given to man, that other minds may 
escape from infidelity, who are now in the same condition 
that Jonah was. That the history of Jonah's mental con- 
dition is here taught, we might know from his own lan- 
guage, when he says, u 1 cried unto the Lord and He 
heard me ; out of the belly of hell, I cried." Now, a nat- 
ural fish is not hell. Nor is false science hell, unless a 
man embraces it, and brings thereby hell or misery into 
his soul, as did Jonah. 

Again, Jonah says, "The waters compassed me about, 
even to the soul." Now, natural waters cannot come to 
the soul of man. But falses, to which waters correspond, 
can come into his soul and produce hell there. It is re- 
markable that, while Jonah is represented as in the fish, 
he makes no complaint, whatever, about his body. He 
does not allude to any physical wants. He mentions no 
struggles for breath, nor want of light or air, neither of 
which he could have had. But it was his soul only, that 
he was troubled about. He says, " When my soul faint- 
ed within me, I remembered the Lord : and my prayer 
came in unto Thee, into Thine holy temple." And he shows 



A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 217 

the former skepticism of his mind, when lie says, "They 
that observe lying vanities forsalce their own mercy. . . . 
Salvation is of the Lord? Thus it was salvation, not 
physical life, that he was now seeking. 

Again, he says, " The earth with her bars was about 
me for ever : yet hast thou brought up my life from cor- 
ruption, O Lord, my God." This Jonah said, while he 
was still represented as being in the fish. It must, there- 
fore, have been the life of his soul, which he felt was being 
brought up from the corruption of sin. 

By the fish's giving up Jonah, is also to be understood 
Jonah's giving up the fish. As Jonah gave up his infi- 
delity, his false science gave up him, as a matter of course. 
And it left him on dry land ; or with a heart free from 
the waters of falsehood. His external mind, of course, 
was not yet free from falses ; but the internal, the heart, 
the land, the new affection, was good, not false. This 
was good dry land. But in order to accomplish this state, 
he had' to be in the belly of the fish three days and three 
nights ; that is, he had to pass from three states of dark- 
ness, or nights, into three states of light, or days, before 
he could come into a state to oppose his infidelity. Days, 
in the "Word, denote states of mind. Three days or states 
have relation to first principles — Love, Wisdom, and 
Power : or, Charity, Faith, and Works. Before we com- 
mence regeneration, we are in the night of darkness upon 
all three of these principles. Each one has its night. 
And, by regeneration, we pass through the night of each 
principle, into the Gospel light of day. And, by that 
light, we see that faith, charity, and works must be united, 
that each may have life. Jonah, therefore, could not be 
placed in a condition to become freed from his skepticism, 
short of three days and three nights ; or, without coming 
10 



218 A WORD TO BIBLICAL SKEPTICS. 

into those three states of light from those three states of 
darkness. He must see his duty, and see also that he 
must do it and love it. 

But when Jonah had thus seen the true light of faith, 
charity, and works ; and had resolved to walk by that 
light, the Lord said, again, unto him, " Arise, go unto 
Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching 
that I bid thee^ And the narrative says, " So Jonah 
arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of 
the Lord." Jonah was now ready to look his falses and 
evils full in the face, and to fight against them. He was 
ready to go to Nineveh. He had now only been brought 
to his senses. He had seen the light of truth, and the 
way of life in which it leads ; and the whole work of 
purification was before him. In his internal mind, a 
good work was commenced, a little kingdom was begun. 
But his external mind still contained Nineveh, that great 
city, with all its selfish inhabitants. And it was the busi- 
ness of his life to subdue them. 

Let us, then, profit by its instructions. Let us arise 
and go to the Nineveh of our self-love, that great city, and 
cry out against every false principle of the heart, as God, 
in this scripture, bids us. So shall we avoid the sea of 
falsehood and the fish of skepticism. 






CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

The Science of Correspondences lost in the building of the Tower of Babel, 
and restored in the loosing of the Seven Seals by the Lord, through Eman- 
uel SwEDENBORG. 

In order to understand the subject before us, we must 
bear in mind that all the Holy Word contains a spiritual 
sense, and then, as we read the narrative in the first para- 
graph of the second chapter of Genesis, and see men build- 
ing a city and a tower, in order to make themselves a 
name, lest they should be scattered abroad upon the face 
of the earth, we must look into human souls for the 
real city and tower. And, when we find them, we shall 
see that this city and tower-building are precisely what all 
unregenerate, selfish, ambitious persons are now doing, 
some on a larger and some on a smaller scale. For as a 
city denotes doctrines, or rules and principles of action, 
whether good or bad, and tower denotes worship and de- 
fence of those doctrines, therefore, every man who, in his 
self- wisdom and worldly ambition, sets out upon some 
new project or speculation, whether civil or religious, in 
order to obtain wealth, or power, or distinction, to make 
himself a name, that he need not be scattered abroad over 
the face of the earth ; or, in other words, be mixed up 



220 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

and lost sight of in the common mass ; every such man, 
in his new schemes, is striving to build a city and a tower, 
that he may reach the imaginary heaven of his ambition, 
and thereby satisfy his selfish aspirations to gain a noto- 
riety above his fellows. 

And a glance at the history of mankind, sacred and 
profane, presents a vast variety of these cities and towers, 
of every character and magnitude, from the molehill to 
the mountain. For every division and discord, political 
or moral, civil or religious ; every crime, of every hue ; 
all persecutions and abuses of the race, originate in the 
building of such cities and towers. And God has merci- 
fully recorded the one in Scripture, as a common mirror, 
into which we may all look and behold the little cities of 
self- wisdom, and towers of pride and presumption, which 
we have been more or less building, in various ways, in 
our own hearts, and which we can now see to be wrong, 
and may abandon. 

]STow, in looking at the city and Tower of Babel, in 
this, their true light, how much darkness is removed from 
the clouds of the literal sense, which seem to teach that 
heaven, instead of being a happy state of the mind, is 
really a natural place, up somewhere in the sky ; and that 
men believed they could actually go there by building a 
tower to reach it ; and that God, in order to prevent it, 
came down and confounded their language, so that they 
could not understand one another, and thus He put a stop 
to the work. Besides, if they were really intending to 
build a natural tower up into the sky, to a place supposed 
to be heaven, they surely would not have commenced the 
work in a valley or plain, when they could have saved the 
expense of building through much space, by commencing 
on a mountain. 



THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 221 

But now, inasmuch as the light of the Gospel is fast 
removing the darkness of all such clouds of the letter from 
the atmosphere of Christendom, and men of all sects are 
"beginning to see and believe- that heaven is anywhere 
where angels are, and that angels are everywhere where 
men are ; and that, to find these angels and this heaven, 
we must become angelic and heavenly ourselves : I say, 
inasmuch as this clear Gospel light is abroad in the land, 
we need give ourselves no anxiety about the literal sense 
of Scripture, which looks unintelligible. For we may 
rest assured that every apparently dark and strange pas- 
sage is a divine casket, containing within it precious jew- 
els of truth, to adorn the souls of those who shall look into 
this casket, and find and wear these jewels. 

Then let us bless the Lord for the literal sense, and 
humbly look up through it, to the clear, divine instruction 
offered for our salvation. The grand idea, then, to be 
constantly and vividly kept before our thoughts, when we 
come to this Holy Word is, that it is a history of the hu- 
man mind, and a rule for its guidance and development. 
That, as a history, it is perfect, glancing upward for the 
origin of man to the Infinite form and quality of human- 
ity in the Divine Being ; and then downward to its finite 
form and quality in man : and then, tracing the forma- 
tion of that mind, most minutely, from its first beginnings 
in the finite form, onward to the age in which we now 
live, and still onward in eternal progression, toward the 
divine perfection. Thus it is a history of man, for time 
and for eternity ; a history of the whole man, and a whole 
history. It is not only a general history of humanity as 
a whole, but a particular history of each individual ; so 
that any person, of whatever character, may read himself 
in it. For it paints minutely all the lights and shades, 



222 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

the elevations and depressions of our mental being, 
through all its various changes and developments, from its 
beginning, onward. It is a perfect history, because re- 
corded by Infinite Wisdom. 

The reason why it is a history of every individual is, 
that every possible state of human nature is described in 
it. Therefore, no life can be lived that is not entirely 
within its descriptions. But nobody can read there the 
peculiar life of an individual in all its particulars but the 
Allwise God, and the individual himself. As a person 
becomes regenerated, and the "Word becomes opened to 
his mind, and his mind to the Word, his various states 
and shades of character are brought to his view in the 
Divine Records ; and as he progresses he finds every sin, 
every shade and quality of his life depicted, and the sure 
remedy for every evil pointed out. 

But all this history, we must remember, is a history 
of the soul ; a history of the feelings, thoughts, and inten- 
tions ; that the soul and its wants and world are the 
things here looked after. And the glorious epoch, in the 
history of our race, has now come when finite humanity 
has reached that stage in its mental development which 
calls for a reasonable knowledge of the soul, and of the 
peculiar relation between mind and matter. Yes, the 
time has arrived when, without this higher knowledge, 
humanity would soon perish in the darkness of material- 
ism and the evils of self-love ; for the light of Divine 
Revelation Would be lost to mankind amid the ruins. 

But our Heavenly Father, whose Divine Mercy is ever 
ready to meet the wants of every emergency, has, in this 
inquiring age, graciously offered us that needed knowl- 
edge in His Holy Word, through the clear symbols of 
nature in the sure Law of Analogy. But when men had 



THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 223 

this law of the Divine Language by intuition, they saw 
clearly the light of the Law by Divine Influx. But they 
saw it without the full, independent exercise of their own 
reason and judgment, and therefore they lost it. They 
are now to receive it through the free and open exercise 
of their rational faculty, so that they can thereby make it 
a part of their own mental being ; and then they will 
never lose it again. 

Man is, therefore, now on his intellectual way back 
from the dark world of effects to the bright world of 
causes. He left that luminous world in the undeveloped 
childhood of the race, by looking downward and outward 
in his own way — as children always do, to things of time 
and sense — till the clouds of his own self- wisdom shut out 
the higher light from his mind. But now he is to return 
to that world of causes, in the manhood of the race, 
through the exercise of his reason ; looking upward 
through the fogs of the mind, to the inner world of his 
being, where the Lord is the Light thereof. 

Now, it was the loss of the symbolic Light of the 
Word, the loss of the true character of the Divine Lan- 
guage, and thence of the character of God, which produced 
the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. When 
they commenced the building of this tower, there was but 
one language on the earth. For the Lord said, " Behold, 
the people is one, and they have all one language ; let us 
go down and confound their language, that they may not 
understand one another's speech." Now, the Lord is said 
to do what He only permits to be done. He did not con- 
found their language Himself : but He permitted them to 
do it. It was their sins that did it. And it was done by 
their building, in their own minds, a false city of base 
principles, and a proud tower of arrogance and selfish- 



224 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

ness. This vile work created all their diversities of views 
and feelings. For now, they spoke no longer one another's 
sentiments and wants. Thus their real life-language 
was confounded. For all true human language is the lan- 
guage of the heart. It is what the heart wants, that the 
soul really speaks. And it speaks in looks and tones as 
well as in words and actions. And when the heart really 
speaks, no one, who knows the soul's speech, can mistake 
its eloquence or its wants ; for it speaks to every sympa- 
thizing heart. But when hearts are divided by selfish- 
ness, and diversified in taste, they speak different emo- 
tions or languages, according to their various feelings and 
wants ; and therefore they cannot work together upon the 
same mental tower. They do not understand one an- 
other's speech. Each one wants his own will and word 
to be law. Each wants the last word. They will not re- 
ceive the words of one another as truth or justice. There is 
nothing confuses the language of the mind, in a commu- 
nity, like individual self-will in its various members. Look 
at a dozen men in hot dispute, and mark the confusion of 
tongues. They do not understand each other's speech. 
They will not, because their hearts are not prepared 
for it. . 

The narrative commences by saying, " And the whole 
earth was of one language, and one speech. And it came 
to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found 
a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there." 
JSTow, going from the east is, in true symbolic language, 
going away from the Lord, from light, from life, from 
love, from heaven. And dwelling in a plain, away from 
the Lord, would denote a low, selfish state of mind. And 
here, in this low mental condition, they built that famous 
city and tower, which have filled the world with opposing 



THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 225 

sects and parties, anger and ill will, sin and suffering. 
Here was lost the one universal language — the language 
of pure symbols — the language of the Holy Word — the 
language of the heart. Before this, the whole earth was 
of one speech. The mental earth spoke from the heart. 
The minds of the community were one. Love was the 
golden bond which harmonized the thoughts and feelings, 
and made their words one. Their words were a perfect 
index to the feelings which gave them forth. And they 
saw, in the sure light of analogy, the indisputable mean- 
ing of every utterance of the soul. For the divine lan- 
guage of the heart wears no disguise. It knows no decep- 
tion. It is pure symbol. ' Throughout all nature it never 
lies. Fallen man only, of all the creatures of God, says 
one thing and feels another. Only man's language is con- 
founded, and that, by the Tower of Babel in his soul. All 
other creatures perfectly understand one another's speech. 
There is no falsity nor equivocation there. Wicked man 
is the arch-deceiver. 

Now, it would seem from the general history, that this 
city and tower were not commenced until after the time 
of the flood, and by the descendants of Noah ; but the 
spiritual history is above time, reaching the states of men 
in all ages. Preparations for the building of this tower 
commenced with the commencement of the fall, and the 
first false, selfish principle, received into the human heart, 
was the first brick laid. And, therefore, our subject em- 
braces the great theme of the fall of man and its conse- 
quences. As we stand aloof in silent contemplation, sur- 
veying the awful magnitude and. consequences of this sub- 
ject, it points us back to the calm and genial sphere of 
Paradisiacal days, where the imagination beholds the 
mental world, in its primeval beauty and innocence ; 
10* 



226 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

where all was harmony within, and brightness without, 
and the whole earth was of one language and of one 
speech ; when pure affection was sweetly manifest in 
every look, and tone, and act ; when men's hearts were 
one and their speech one. 

In passing the eyes along the brighter portion of this 
mingled picture, we next behold this happy people leav- 
ing their halcyon Paradise, their heavenly groves and 
sunny climes, to take a journey away from the glorious 
East, from whence had come all their joys. Yes : we 
behold them turning their backs to the light, the life, the 
joy, the heaven, the God and Father of all their blessings. 
For their own selfhood is now beginning to feel its im- 
portance, and to become active. New things are exciting 
their curiosity, and new experiments must be tried. And 
as they journeyed on in their selfish way, we follow them 
along their devious paths, down from the sunny hillsides 
of truth and love, where the fruits of righteousness and 
peace grow spontaneously on all the trees of the garden, 
except that of their own self-knowledge ; and now we 
come to the gloomy plain of error and unkindness, where 
they feed upon the bitter fruits of their own depraved 
devices. And here, in this low, dark, selfish valley, they 
built that city of falsities and tower of arrogance which 
have spread consternation, distress, and woe over the 
whole face of the earth. 

From the brief account, given in the Word, of this 
journey and tower-building, one would suppose it was all 
accomplished in a short time ; at least, within the com- 
mon age of man. And yet, it must have taken thousands 
of years — many generations. For slow must be the 
progress, whereby a pure and spotless people could be- 
come evil and false, so as entirely to lose sight of the true 



.THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 227 

law of the heart and light of the mind ; and thus become 
blind to the symbolic language of the universe, in which 
they were educated — that beautiful analogical relation of 
cause and effect, which ever exists between the world of 
mind and the world of matter — their own and only native 
language. But such is the wonderful character of the 
Holy Word, that one divine idea grasps the whole ; for 
even the parts are infinite. 

Let us then come to the Holy Word, for a true knowl- 
edge of humanity in the present age of the world, the age 
which most of all concerns us. And let us study it from 
the heart. For this is, indeed, an age of Babylonian 
cities and towers. Every sinful heart has its Babel, and 
every wicked people, their base city and tower. There is 
now no civil or religious government on the earth, that is 
entirely free from that diabolical city and tower, built in 
the land of Shinar. But although we behold these false 
cities and gigantic towers all over the world, and see 
poor humanity writhing under the pain and anguish of 
dominant cruelty ; yet, let us take courage, for the remedy 
is also at hand, and the promise of a glorious age to come 
is bright. Pure symbolic light, from the Holy Word, is 
now freely offered us, whereby we can rationally test the 
character of all cities and towers ; and, in the divine 
power of this light, we can abandon the cities of the plains 
and flee to the mountains. We can come back to the 
Paradise of God, and feast our souls upon the Tree of Life. 
All the gates of the heavenly garden are thrown open for 
our reception. The various flowers give forth their odors, 
and the breath of the morning comes laden with love. 
Angelic arms are open to receive us, and heavenly choirs 
will chant praises to God. Let us then build no cities nor 
towers ourselves, nor accept any of man's building. But 



228 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

let us freely enter the Divine City which cometh down 
from God out of heaven ; whose builder and maker is 
God : where grows the Tree of Life, whose leaves never 
fade, and whose fruits never decay. Then shall we be 
able truly to " praise the Lord for His goodness, and for 
His wonderful works to the children of men." 

Now, since the loss of this science, the church and the 
world have passed through many changes ; until the time 
has come for the absolute necessity for a knowledge of this 
science, for the continuance and salvation of the human 
family on earth. And the peculiar manner in which it 
has been revealed is this : — The time had come, in the 
age of the world, when human nature had grown up to 
natural manhood ; when the natural faculties and powers 
of reasoning were greatly developed ; and when the reli- 
gion of the world was of every caste and character, and 
involved in great mystery. Nothing in theology reached 
the wants of the free, reasoning, thinking, truth-desiring 
minds. They were asking for light in matters of religion, 
as well as in science. They were hungering and thirsting 
for something to satisfy the wants of the longing soul. 
These minds could begin to receive the spiritual sense of 
the Word, if it could only be brought scientifically before 
them. This sense was the only thing that could lead 
their thoughts to the true God, give them right views of 
His nature^ and faith in Llis Holy Word. The lost science 
of correspondences was the only key to that spiritual sense 
that would fit their minds. If that science could be 
brought rationally before the minds of men, so as to en- 
able them, from their low, natural position, to look un- 
derstandingly up through the world of effects to the world 
of causes — through natural things to spiritual, material to 
mental — so as to see and receive spiritual light from the 



THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 229 

Holy Word, then the. human race on earth could be grad- 
ually elevated to heavenly order and happiness ; otherwise 
man must perish. " Except these days should be short- 
ened, no flesh should be saved." 

By the use, then, of the key of correspondences, the 
seals of the "Word could be broken and the Book opened. 
But who was able to do it ? None but the " Lion of the 
tribe of Judah could prevail to open the Book, and loose 
the seals thereof." The seals were all in the human 
mind. It was sealed with seven seals ; that is, every state 
of the human mind was closed against spiritual light. 
Man was altogether natural. But there were some minds 
in a religious state of natural good, and in such a state 
of natural rational freedom as to have their minds opened 
by instruction from the Lord, so as to see spiritual light 
through natural symbols, could they be so instructed. 

But how was this mighty work to be done ? How 
was the human mind to be opened and instructed, so as to 
behold the w T onderful things written in God's law ; to see 
the glory of the world of causes, and to look down upon 
effects, and see them as they really are ? There was but 
one way to do it ; and that was, for a man to take the 
Holy Word, give it his supreme time and attention, and 
work out its wonderful problems step by step ; proving 
every operation, as he went along, by the truths of the 
Word itself, looking to the Divine Master for instruction. 
Thus, the mind, in this new study, would have to be as 
gradually opened, enlightened, and expanded, in spiritual 
science, as minds are naturally in the pursuit of natural 
science. 

But a mind, to do this work, must be a mind in a state 
of strong natural truth and good. It must be a mind 
possessing rational and unwavering faith in the Lord, in 



230 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

the divinity of the "Word, and in the work before him ; 
a mind humble, prayerful, open, and confiding toward 
the Lord. But where was the mind to be found compe- 
tent to the task of going to this Fountain of wisdom, 
working out its spiritual problems, and spreading out 
before the world a clear and satisfactory solution of the 
work, proved and authenticated by the Divine Truth 
itself? 

Emanuel Swedenbokg was the man, in the Divine 
Providence, for this work. But what peculiar qualifica- 
tions had he for entering upon a study so high and 
heavenly ? From his youth, his training and education 
had prepared his mind for just such a work. With al- 
ways a conscientious regard for the Bible, and a love of 
truth and virtue, he had mastered all the human litera- 
ture of the age ; deeply investigated the laws of matter 
in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms ; had 
traced the economy of the human body up to the soul, 
and nature up to God ; and had rationally seen something 
of the relation between mind and matter, and of the laws 
of creation. In this way, his natural mind had become 
a sincere and open vessel, adapted to the reception of 
spiritual truth ; and his active soul was thirsting for some- 
thing higher, and looking up to receive it. And thus, at 
the mature age of fifty-five years — ripe in natural goodness 
and truth, and in scientific and literary wisdom — he was 
prepared to enter upon the divine study of the Holy 
"Word in its spiritual sense. 

This study rationally opened his mind to the laws of 
the spiritual world ; so that he gradually came, while in 
the flesh, into a state of free, open, and sensible conscious- 
ness of spiritual society and scenery, and this by a process 
of such perfect mental growth and development, accord- 



THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 231 

ing to divine order, that, when his spiritual senses had 
become clearly opened to the spiritual world, they were 
permanently so ; because his views of that world were 
not surface and uncertain views, presented from a disor- 
dered or inflated imagination, but they were scientific 
views. He saw and understood the law by which spirit- 
ual forms are manifested, and this law he found in the 
Holy Word. It is the Science of Correspondences, in 
which the "Word is written, and which he labored to make 
known to the world ; and, in the ardent exercise of this 
benevolent desire to give it freely to his fellow man, his 
soul was rationally opened to receive it from the Lord. 

Twenty-nine years of intense application were devoted 
to this work, in which he presented to mankind twenty 
massive volumes, opening and expounding the Sacred 
Scriptures, and specifically recording his illustrations, and 
the science of correspondences by which, they are ex- 
plained. This he did in the most modest and quiet man- 
ner, without any startling miracles, or outward displays 
of power, but in a deep, calm, and contemplative state of 
mind ; looking prayerfully and confidingly to the Lord 
while reading the Word. 

In this way, the science of correspondences, and the 
spiritual sense of the Word, and its doctrines, have been 
presented to the world. But who has done it ? Certainly 
not Swedenborg, but the Lord Himself. Swedenborg 
never, in all these volumes, gives us so much as a single 
opinion of his own upon the meaning of the Word or its 
doctrines, or of the science of correspondences ; but the 
illustrations are so given as to make the Word itself its 
own interpreter. It is the Lord, therefore, and not Swe- 
denborg, that speaks to the heart and the. head of the 
reader of these volumes. Yet Swedenborg was not in- 



232 THE LOST AND THE FOUND. 

spired. He acted not as an amanuensis, as did the 
prophets. He freely saw and understood what he wrote. 
He knew it was true ; but he knew, also, that it was not 
one particle of it his own wisdom ; and he was far from 
claiming it. 

These twenty volumes, therefore, in their explanations 
of the Word and its doctrines, become to the understand- 
ing reader, positive and conclusive evidence of their own 
truth and the truth of the Holy "Word. They call in an 
array of testimony, which carries everything before it. 
They call our own internal selves on to the stand, with all 
our evils, and all we know of human nature and make 
them cry out, Amen ! They call in to their support all 
the truths of science and art. Indeed, they call in every- 
thing — the vast universe of mind and matter, and the law 
of analogy between them. Everything in nature, from 
the smallest dust of the earth to the sun in the heavens, 
bears testimony in these volumes to the truth of the 
Word, and the divinity of its Author ; proving beyond a 
doubt, that the Creator of the universe is the Author of 
the Holy Word ; that the spiritual truths of the Word 
are the Divine Wisdom by which God created and sus- 
tains the universe ; and that the universe now stands in 
relation to that wisdom, as effects to causes. All this is 
satisfactorily proved by the law of analogy which pervades 
the whole Word. 

Thus the Lion of the tribe of Judah, according to 
prophecy, has prevailed to open the Book, and loose the 
seven seals of God's Holy Word ; and has mercifully 
given to the world the divine science of correspondences 
— the grand key which opens the door to that fountain 
of wisdom which is to bring the world into order. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, WITH OR WITHOUT A SPIRITUAL SENSE. 

"By the science of correspondences men are enabled to 
ascertain what writings have an internal sense, and what 
have not ; what are of God, and what are of men : which 
hooks of what is called the "Bible, containing the Old 
and New Testaments" are plenarily inspired, and which 
are not. 

The analytical investigation of languages, by this sci- 
ence, is exceedingly interesting, ever pointing, as with 
the finger of God, to the marked distinction between 
what is Divine and what is human, and thereby bringing 
out the Holy "Word in bold relief, in its essential superi- 
ority over all other writings, because filled with living 
thoughts and feelings, evolving throughout a new and 
consecutive sense, far above the letter, breathing a Di- 
vine spirit expressive of a peculiar relation to human 
souls, touching their understandings and w T ills, and plainly 
directing their actions ; each part of the Word evincing a 
sensible connection with all the other parts, and even, by 
correspondences, with all the things of nature. Such is 
this wonderful book of God : whereas the same analysis, 
applied to any merely human composition, fails in all 
these particulars. 



234 THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 

A language having only a natural sense gives, at once 
and fully, to any mind which understands the terms used 
and the grammar, all the ideas it contains ; and any at- 
tempt to evolve an internal sense fails at every step. For, 
notwithstanding every natural thing mentioned, even in 
such language, corresponds to some spiritual thing, yet, 
as the other parts of the sentence are not arranged in re- 
lation to this correspondence, there can be no spiritual 
sense. This any one who examines the subject may see. 
And what in the Holy Word is most wonderful is, every 
part seems to involve all the rest, because it contains the 
Lord, who is perfect in the least things as well as the 
greatest ; so that there is no part, however intricate or 
obscure, that is not rendered by the spiritual sense profit- 
able for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in 
righteousness. 

In the general features of correspondences, the science 
appears plain, but in extending it to the particulars of the 
Word, men have thought it too obscure. But they should 
know that in looking, by analogy, into the interiors of the 
Word, in their minute particulars, the science of corre- 
spondences becomes, as it were, a spiritual microscope, 
bringing out, in their perfect order and beauty, thousands 
of otherwise hidden features and qualities of things, with 
their various relations and uses : the lens (permit the 
term) of this Divine instrument becoming more and more 
powerful as we progress in a practical knowledge of the 
spiritual qualities and powers of the Word, and as our men- 
tal vision becomes adapted to the new light. For, as the 
constant improvement in the natural microscope is bring- 
ing out more and more, to the astonished beholder, the 
perfect order and organization of the infinitesimal things 
in the interior of God's works, leaving the imagination 



THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 235 

yet room to play amid unseen wonders, which may lie 
still deeper within ; so, as we progress in a knowledge of 
the science of correspondences, and look, by Divine light, 
through its increasing powers, into God's Word, we find 
the same cause for wonder and delight at its order and 
perfection in the infinite and minute varieties, relations, 
and combinations of its goods and truths, leaving us still 
ignorant of the extent and quality of the unseen glories 
yet remaining. 

For, as the science of correspondences shows the- rela- 
tion between God's works and His "Word, so these two 
great productions must, in their degrees, be alike perfect 
in their interiors ; both speaking of the goodness and per- 
fection of their Infinite Author in sure and responsive 
words, expressing His goodness in accents loud upon the 
surface, but becoming more and more gentle from within, 
till finally lost in the whispers of their own sweetness, as 
we lose sight of the interior excellences of the Word in 
the infinity of its perfections. !No one, therefore, with a 
glimpse of the law of analogy, can doubt the complete 
distinction between the written Word of the Lord and all 
other languages. 

ISTow the Pentateuch, and the book of Joshua, and 
that of Judges, are written according to the science of 
correspondences, and therefore have a complete spiritual 
sense. And they all purport to come from God. He 
s}3eaks in them, and they are His Word. 

But the book of Ruth has no spiritual sense, and the 
science of correspondences cannot be applied to it. Nei- 
ther does the book anywhere claim to be spoken or di- 
rected by the Lord. He nowhere utters a syllable in it. 

The two books of Samuel and the two books of Kings, 
are the Word of life, everywhere containing a spiritual 



236 THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 

sense. God speaks in them, and. the science of correspond- 
ences and their holy sphere prove their divinity. 

The two books of Chronicles cannot be read by corre- 
spondences, and are, therefore, not spirit and life like the 
Word. They are merely what their name indicates — 
chronicles. God nowhere claims them, nor do the books 
themselves claim Him as their author. In what they say 
of David they quote one of the Psalms, which, with any 
other cjuotations from the Word, has an internal sense. 
The Chronicles, with the book of Ruth, are a mere record 
of natural events ; and as such they often speak of what 
God has said and done. But God's spirit is not manifest 
in these books, speaking and directing present and future 
things ; telling men how to speak, write, and act, as in 
the other books. 

The books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are of a 
similar character to Ruth and Chronicles, having no spir- 
itual sense. God has neither credit for them, nor does 
He directly speak in them, or call them His Word. 

The book of Job is a work by itself. It is of a higher 
order and character of language than those without an 
internal sense ; for it is written in correspondences. But 
it is not of so high a character as the Word of God, be- 
cause it does not everywhere refer to the Lord and con- 
tain His spirit. But it treats of spiritual things through 
natural symbols. 

The Psalms are a peculiarly sublime book. They 
contain a spiritual sense, and God's Spirit breathes in 
them throughout. Some of the literal sense is very beau- 
tiful, and some appears harsh and unmerciful. But in 
the light of correspondences, the letter entire becomes a 
beautiful casket of precious mental jewels. David is 
everywhere in them a representative character denoting 



THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 237 

the Lord. Not that David was personally a good man. 
He was far from it. But the Psalms have a peculiar pro- 
phetic spirit, taking as a basis a certain character repre- 
senting the Lord, who is called David. And this char- 
acter is represented as passing through everything which 
the Lord's assumed nature passed through in its life, 
temptations, crucifixion, and glorification ; and also 
everything which men pass through in their regenera- 
tion ; and also all the abuse which the Word, or the 
truth, received from the Jews, or receives now from any 
one who rejects it. Thus David is said to say in them, 
" All they that see me laugh me to scorn : they shoot out 
the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the 
Lord that He would deliver him : let Him deliver him, 
seeing He delighted in him." " They pierced my hands 
and my feet." " They parted my garments among them, 
and cast lots upon my vesture." (Psalm xxii, 7, 8, 16, 18.) 
Here, because David represents the Lord, the things 
which were long afterward done to the Lord were said 
to be done to David. Now herein is a true spiritual 
sense, and the literal sense is a true symbol of it ; and 
this is all the soul needs to know. Whatever occurred to 
David's natural body is of no consequence to us. In the 
spiritual sense it is a highly beautiful work ; very devo- 
tional, instructive, and refreshing to the soul. By the 
enemies so much denounced, threatened, and hated there- 
in, are always meant evils, not persons. And whoever 
will read the Psalms, and put the Lord, in His assumed 
humanity, in the place of David, will see much beauty in 
them which he could not otherwise see. But to see them 
in their perfection and glory, he must behold the spiritual 
sense. Then will his soul, rejoicing, bless the Lord. 

The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon 
have no spiritual sense. 



238 THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 

The Proverbs are what they declare themselves to be, 
" The Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of 
Israel." Thus Solomon claims them as his own, and nei- 
ther the Lord nor any one else says anything to the con- 
trary. 

Ecclesiastes is declared to be " The words of the 
Preacher, the son of David, king of Jerusalem." Thus 
this book does not claim to be the Word of God, nor does 
God say it is His Word. 

The Song of Solomon commences by saying, "The 
Song of Songs, which is Solomon's." It is a highly 
figurative book, but not in correspondences. In these 
three books by Solomon, God utters not one syllable. 
Indeed, in the last, God's name is not even mentioned or 
alluded to. 

The prophecies from Isaiah to Malachi, inclusive, have 
all a spiritual sense. God is everywhere speaking in 
them, and the writers constantly declare them to be " the 
"Word of the Lord," which came to them, " saying." 

In the New Testament, the four Gospels and the Rev- 
elation have the spiritual sense. The Acts and the Epis- 
tles have not. In the Gospels and the Revelation the 
Lord is ever present in word and in spirit. The Revela- 
tion commences by saying, " The Revelation of Jesus 
Christ." 

The Acts are simply what they are declared to be, 
" The Acts of the Apostles." And so of the Epistles. 
They are entitled, The Epistles of Paul, James, Peter, 
John, and Jude. They are not the Gospel, but explana- 
tions and instructions concerning the Gospel : nor do the 
apostles teach that these Acts and Epistles are God's acts 
and epistles. They are highly valuable writings, and the 
writers were devoted and godly men, chosen of the Lord 



THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE. 239 

to teach and preach the everlasting Gospel which He had 
given them. 

Now it is remarkable that no books of the Bible, ex- 
cept those in which God speaks, and which the writers 
acknowledge to be from Him, contain a spiritual sense. 
Indeed, the books seem to tell us in the very letter, upon 
their very face, which are God-breathed and which are 
not. But men had not noticed this distinction, and also 
the wonderful difference in their character, and the struc- 
ture of the language, till they saw the spiritual sense. 
By this chapter we may be thought by some to be treat- 
ing some of the books of the Bible lightly, because we 
declare them to be without a spiritual sense ; yet let such 
persons remember that we place as high a value upon 
those books as they do upon any part ; while we esteem 
the other portions to be infinitely more valuable. 

We are now able to see why the first and last parts 
of the Holy Word — the fore part of Genesis and the 
Apocalypse — are so wonderfully obscure. It is because 
they belong to states of human life on earth which have 
passed away, and which have not yet returned. But the 
day is coming when those Scriptures will be brilliant with 
heavenly light, and all the Holy Word will speak one 
voice, and that, the voice of mercy and peace. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CHUECH. 

The church is the kingdom of Heaven. Its elements 
are goodness and truth. It cometh not with observation ; 
neither is it here, nor there, as to space, but within the 
souls of men. It is a spiritual kingdom. The Lord is 
the King, and the commandments — the golden rules of 
life — are the laws of the realm. The establishment of 
this church is the creation of man. For the elements of 
the church, in man, are what make him a man. The 
church, therefore, is a human mind or a society of minds 
in true order. 

Kow, the Holy "Word is a complete history of man or 
of the church ; describing all its lights and shades, from 
its infancy in the Garden of Eden, to its full age in the 
millennium. All the things of nature, and their apparent 
histories, are mentioned in the Word to teach these spirit- 
ual things. They symbolize and set forth, by analogy, 
the mind of man, or the church, and its history. Conse- 
quently, whether we say man or the church, it spiritually 
means the same thing. For goodness and truth make 
us men by giving us the image and likeness of God — the 
Infinite Man. In losing goodness and truth, therefore, 



THE CHURCH. 241 

we cease to be either men or the church, and are said to 
be destroyed or dead in sin. It is goodness and truth 
which God gives man, when He breathes into him the 
hreath of lives, and man becomes a living soul. For the 
breath which He breathes into him is the Holy Spirit — 
the Spirit of Truth and Love. Man receives this good- 
ness and truth in his spiritual creation or regeneration. 
These divine elements are contained in the words of the 
Lord, which He declares are spirit and life. They are 
received into the will and understanding of man as he 
sees the truth, yields his heart to the laws of God, through 
faith and repentance, and obeys those laws till he loves 
them. This, and nothing else, makes him a man and a 
portion of the church of God. 

E"ow, by the creation of man, in the first chapter of 
Genesis, is meant the creation of the race — mankind — 
males and females. And as the Holy Word is a manifes- 
tation and description of the elements and qualities of 
God, and a history, past, present, and prophetic, of the 
church or the human mind or soul, and its qualities, given 
through natural symbols ; so it commences with the his- 
tory of this mental creation — this spiritual humanity. 
And as all language is taken from the things of nature, 
there being " no speech nor language where their voice 
is not heard," and as no quality of the mind can be de- 
scribed, but through natural things, by correspondences ; 
and as the human mind is a microcosm, to which the 
macrocosm corresponds ; so the creation of the human 
mind, or mental universe, is described by an apparent 
history of the creation of the natural universe. This his- 
tory is so composed as beautifully and rationally to de- 
scribe this creation. And whether it gives also a real 
history of the creation of material things or not, is in no 
11 



242 THE CHURCH. 

way essential to us. "We cannot understand it if it does. 
To be told that a thing was done so and so, without giv- 
ing any rational idea of the powers used and how applied, 
conveys no food for the soul. Fox that can be fed only 
through the rational faculties. But the spiritual history 
we can understand, and apply it to our salvation. There- 
fore, in this, we get the things which God designs for us. 
And what do we want more ? 

In the expression " the heaven and the earth," we see 
the internal and the external planes of the mind ; in the 
" light " used, we see the truth for those minds. In the' 
first three days, we see the process of educating and de- 
veloping the external or natural mind, that it may be- 
come a basis or vessel for spiritual things. By correspond- 
ence, we see, in the water, natural truth for that mind ; 
and in the grass, we see natural good growing in the 
affections ; and in this growing, we see action ; and in 
the trees bearing fruit, we see good works. Here are 
the first three days or states, produced in true order, em- 
bracing the faith, charity, and works of the natural mind. 
This prepares man for spiritual or higher work ; for through 
these states he can look up and desire spiritual things. 
And through the exercise of this desire, looking to the 
Lord by faith, while bearing the natural fruits of right- 
eousness the truth gradually enters the internal will or 
heaven of the mind, and spiritual love to God is felt 
in the soul ; thence comes spiritual faith ; and from this 
love and faith comes spiritual knowledge, thus producing 
the fourth day or state of mind. This love, faith, and 
knowledge are what is meant by the sun, moon, and stars 
placed in the mental heaven, to give light upon the mental 
earth. 

In this state man begins to be truly spiritual, and the 



THE CHURCH 243 

natural man begins to be governed by spiritual influences, 
so that it can bring forth something more alive than grass 
and trees. Therefore the intellectual and scientific facul- 
ties of the mind are next excited by heavenly light, and 
the thoughts and scientific reasonings begin to be spirit- 
ual, which is what is meant by the waters bringing forth 
fishes and birds. Next the will of the natural man comes 
under spiritual influences and the affections become heav- 
enly, which is what is meant by the earth bringing forth 
animals and living creatures. 

Under this state of things, which is called the fifth 
day, the internal and external minds can be brought to- 
gether for mutual action, so as to be in the image of God ; 
and the union of these minds brings man, or the real males 
and females, to the sixth day, or state of creation. 

Thus we have the church, or men and women, in God's 
image : but they have much yet to do for the proper 
growth and development of their minds, before they reach 
the seventh state. They are therefore, as mental beings, 
commanded to be fruitful and multiply in spiritual things ; 
to replenish their natural mind or earth and subdue it ; 
and to govern all their thoughts, affections and propensities, 
which is what is meant by man's having dominion over 
the fish of the sea, fowl of the air, and over every living 
thing that moveth upon the earth. And as he gains this 
dominion, replenishes and subdues the natural mind, and 
gets the complete control over himself, he is prepared to 
enter upon the seventh state, or sabbath of rest from the 
six days' labor. God is said to rest because it is His 
Spirit that does the work. 

"When the labor of the sixth day is finished, man has 
become a spiritual man, and is prepared for something 
higher. As a spiritual man, truth predominates, and he 



244 THE CHURCH. 

holds this dominion by seeing his duty. But the wants 
of his nature are not satisfied ; and there is a further de- 
velopment awaiting him, which we find described in 
chapter ii. This chapter introduces him into the celestial 
state, wherein love predominates. 

JSTow, it is said in the second chapter, that " there was 
not a man to till the ground" (ver. 5.) And yet the 
human race had been created — " male and female" — we 
know not how many ; and they had increased and multi- 
plied, and replenished the earth, and subdued it. Thus 
there were men enough to replenish and subdue the earth, 
but none to till the ground. This is because, by replen- 
ishing and subduing the earth is meant, supplying and 
controlling the natural mind by the truth, which is spirit- 
ual work ; while, by tilling the ground is meant, warming 
and cultivating the natural mind with love, which is celes- 
tial work. Thus, subduing either the natural or the men- 
tal earth makes it good ground for tilling. Therefore, 
the reason there was no man to till the ground is, there 
was then no celestial man. The people had advanced 
only to the spiritual state. They could then subdue the 
natural mind, by the power of the truth, but they had 
not learned to till that mind, and fill it with celestial love, 
by the cultivation of merciful and kind affections. Thus 
the earth here means the external mind made spiritual ; 
while the ground means the external mind made celestial. 
Men subdue the mental earth by the truth, or because 
they see it to be right. They till the ground by love, or 
because they feel it to be right. 

It is because the work of the first chapter was simply 
a spiritual work, that the word " God " only is used ; by 
which we are to understand, that the human mind was 
all the while under the direction and control of the truth, 



THE CHUKCH. 245 

and was thus becoming spiritual ; whereas, in the second 
chapter, it is Jehovah God, or Love and Truth operating 
in the heart together, which till the ground, or make man 
celestial. Thus, the second chapter takes men where the 
first leaves them, and it advances them on to the celestial 
state. And the process of the work is described in the 
following words : " And the Lord God made man (man- 
kind) of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his 
nostrils the breath of lives ; and man became a living 
soul." Here we see that the celestial state is produced 
by bringing love or good will down into the lowest, smallest 
things of the external mind — into the very dust of the 
ground. This is accomplished by doing all the little 
things of life kindly, from love to the neighbor. For 
dust denotes the lowest external things of the mind. This 
work of mercy and kindness is what forms man of the 
dust of the ground, because it makes him manly in the 
least things, and fills the whole mind with love to God 
and good will toward men. This makes man a " living 
soul," because it makes all his natural affections alive 
with love. In this way the true church — the kingdom of 
heaven — is formed. 

But the work stops not here. Men are now prepared 
to make a garden of their mind, because they can, now 
till the ground. Therefore, it is next said in the record, 
that " the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden." 
Planting the garden is bringing the truths into the warm 
celestial ground of the mind. This garden of Eden, there- 
fore, is the human mind, not of one person only, but of 
all the human family then upon the earth, who were far 
enough advanced. They could, now, so till the ground 
as to produce good mental fruit-trees. Thus the trees of 
this garden were all the mental principles, growing from 



246 THE CHURCH. 

the ground of love. The rivers of the garden were all 
truths flowing from the Lord. 

Here the human family, in this state of paradise, were 
commanded to dress and keep this mental garden. Herein 
all the principles of the mind were made new, and put 
on the celestial aspect. The very affections of the soul 
were all made new, or celestial, and the people under- 
stood their quality, and could read their own hearts. This 
we are taught in the following language : " Out of the 
ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, 
and fowl of the air, and brought them to Adam (or man) 
to see what he would call them ; " that is, the people were 
enabled to know the quality of their thoughts and feelings. 

Here it may be noticed that, in the first chapter, ivater 
brought forth the birds ; that is, the thoughts were spirit- 
ual : in this chapter they are formed of the ground; that 
is, they are celestial or flow from love. And so we may 
see why the trees and the beasts are said to be created 
over again : it is because, in the first chapter, these prin- 
ciples of the mind were created by means of the truth, 
and the earth produced them. They now have a higher 
creation, by means of love, and the ground gives them 
forth. Here we have the highest state to which the 
human mind advanced before the fall. It is a true celes- 
tial church, with everything orderly and heavenly. 

We have now given the process of the creation of 
celestial men, who act in all things from pure love to God 
and the neighbor. And it is applicable to men in all ages. 
It is the way celestial men are now created. The phrase 
" in the beginning," is just as applicable to one period of 
time as another. There was no beginning with God ; but 
there is a beginning with everything that is created ; and, 
as it regards the thing itself, it is created in the beginning. 



THE CHURCH. 247 

And, as God never "began to be, so He never "began to feel, 
think and act, or create ; for He is " the same yesterday, 
to-day, and forever " — a Creator always. 

Of this happy celestial family the history is brief, and 
we know but little about it. But we have much ground 
of belief that it was very numerous ; for, from what we 
know of the process of the mental growth and decline of 
nations, it must have taken a long time to advance the 
human race from a state of entire ignorance, when " dark- 
ness was upon the faces of the abyss " of the sou], up to 
this high state of celestial light and life. Nor could they 
have suddenly or rapidly declined into evil. 

But the time came when they found that " it was not 
good to be alone" To be alone, as individuals or as a 
people, was to be single minded, one in heart and mind, 
and one with the Lord. It was to have no two sides or 
parties in anything ; but for all to yield implicitly to the 
Lord's will. Thus they began to get tired of their oneness 
of state, and to want some variety, and to act more as 
many than as one alone. They wanted the privilege of 
saying either yes or no. 

This uneasy state of mind is the germ of " the fall." 
God saw that man felt that " it was not good for him to 
be alone." Therefore, it is written that u the Lord God 
caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam,* and he slept." 

* It is important here to remember that, in the Hebrew language, there 
are two words to denote man ; one of which is ' Adam^ and the other is 
' Aish ;"* that the word Adam, or man, denotes a human being in general, 
without regard to sex — humanity — the race ; and the word ' Aish,' or man, 
denotes a male human being only ; and also that where it says, that "it is not 
good that the man should be alone," or that "the Lord God caused a deep 
sleep to fall upon Adam," and in all other previous instances, where the word 
' man ' is used, in these two chapters of Genesis, that word, in the original, 
denotes mankind without regard to sex. 



248 THE CHUECH. 

Now the Lord is often said, in Scripture, to do what 
He only permits to be done. The deep sleep man brought 
upon himself ; and it was this : The human race, in try- 
ing to reason from their own proprium, began to fall into 
a state of darkness and doubt as to whether their wisdom 
were all from the Lord, or partly from themselves. This 
darkness was the sleep. They were no longer awake or 
alive to the Lord's will and their duty ; their understand- 
ings were becoming dark and their affections cold. 

But, to understand the Scripture record of the process 
through which the church or human nature passed, dur- 
ing " the fall," we must have clear and distinct ideas of 
the male and female elements of the mind, in their gen- 
eral nature, without regard to individuals or sex. And 
we see that there must be these two spiritual elements, 
or there could not be the male and female ultimates; and 
that these elements must pervade the entire universe, by 
influx, or all nature would not present the male and fe- 
male qualities. In God, they are Love and Wisdom ; in 
man, they are truth and goodness ; in animals, they are 
thoughts and feelings ; in vegetables, they are light and 
heat, all coming from God, by means of the living Divine 
Influx. "Woman is so organized as to express more of the 
goodness, and man more of the truth. Therefore, the 
woman manifests, of this influx, more of its gentleness, 
mercy, tenderness, and goodness ; and man, more of its 
truth, justice, judgment, and power. Thus we learn, from 
the Holy Word, that the truths are male principles, and 
goods, female. Hence the Lord, as the Truth, is called 
the husband of the church, as goodness. And as truths 
are for the understanding, and goods for the will, so, spir- 
itually speaking, the understanding is the male depart- 
ment of the mind, and the will, the female department. 



THE CHUKCH. 249 

Therefore, every person must have male and female ele- 
ments ; male, for the thoughts ; and female, for the feel- 
ings. For, without the united action of the will and the 
understanding, man could do nothing. These elements, 
in their origin, are the root and source of all creation 
and action, being in the Divine Love and Wisdom of the 
Great Jehovah, and going forth " the Life of all things." 

Now, by keeping the idea of these general male and 
female elements in the mind, without regard to sex, we 
shall see that a community of people as a body must have 
its male ' and female elements pervading all its parts as 
though it were one mind : the general understanding be- 
ing the male department, and the general will, the female. 

From this view we see that the darkened understand- 
ing of the people of Eden, was the Adam, or male prin- 
ciple, which was asleep. Sleep is a term often used in the 
Word to denote a state of doubtfulness, and indifference of 
mind. To such persons the Lord says, " Awa,ke, thou that 
sleep est, and arise from the dead." 

Now, that primeval people had turned their thoughts 
away from the Lord toward themselves, and had studied 
so hard to find out what there really was of them, inde- 
pendent of God — what their very selfhood was in itself — 
that their understanding, or Adam principle, had become 
beclouded with mystery. This was their deep sleep. 
Their understanding, or male department, was in dark- 
ness, and their will, or female element, had become cold. 
Hence the will did not ardently love the things of the 
understanding, for they were gloomy and doubtful ; and 
the understanding saw nothing very inviting in the will, 
it was so indifferent. 

But the Lord, who is ever in effort to help men out of 
their difficulties, by coming to them, under every trial, 
11* 



250 THE CHURCH. 

with something adapted to their state, took this coldness 
away from the affections of the people, and this darkness 
away from their understandings, by teaching them that 
men had a selfhood, and what it was, and that they were 
free to exercise it and love it as their own, and therefore, 
to be no longer " alone," provided they would acknowledge 
that all the power to act, and everything good and true, 
were given them from the Lord. 

This was a new truth to them, and just what their 
state wanted ; and it produced a new state of mind, giv- 
ing them much joy. For this new truth in the under- 
standing, or Adam department of the mind, could be re- 
ceived and warmly embraced by the new affections in 
the will, or Eve department. Thus the general mind of 
the people, which was before dark and cold, was now 
light and warm. 

Now this cold and indifferent state of the will toward 
the darkened understanding, and toward the Lord as the 
Truth, is what is meant by the rib which was taken away ; 
and the warm affection which the people received for the 
new truth, is what is meant by the woman, or flesh, which 
took the place of the rib : flesh denotes goodness. 

This new truth in the understanding of the people, is 
the Lord as the "Word, the Husband of the church. And 
the goodness of these new affections, in the will, is the 
church, the bride. And this union of truth in the under- 
standing with good in the will, is used in the "Word as a 
symbol of the relation between husband and wife. 

Now, it is because the will of the people received these 
new and joyous affections through the truth in the under- 
standing, which showed them that they were free agents 
and need not be alone, that it is said that the woman was 
taken out of the man. For the new truth, which the Lord 



THE CHURCH. 251 

here gave to the understanding, contained within it the 
very goodness which made the will so happy ; and which 
the will or woman received from the understanding or 
man. And as the understanding and the will are now 
brought joyously together, it is therefore added that " a 
man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave 
unto his wife ; and they shall be one flesh." x 

It may seem strange that the cold selfhood of man 
should be called a rib or bone. But it is because a bone 
has but little feeling. And for this reason it is often 
used, in the Word, in that sense. Thus the Psalmist says, 
" Make me to have joy and gladness, that the bones which 
thou hast broken may rejoice." Here, by broken bones 
are meant broken affections, or subdued selfhood. Break- 
ing a bone, by the Lord, is the same as taking out a rib 
or destroying a dead selfhood. 

Now, the state of man's selfhood is the state of the 
church in him. And a man's selfhood is either dead or 
alive. It is dead when he loves self solely for the sake 
of self. It is alive when he loves self for the sake of the 
Lord ; for then he loves his neighbor as himself. In the 
new selfhood which was given in the place of the rib, the 
people saw that they were not good in and of themselves ; 
and seeing this, and looking to the Lord, they loved Him 
for the goods and truths that were in them from Him, 
and they loved themselves also for what God gave them. 
Here we have the condition of the church, or the state 
of man, when his mind was first opened to a true knowl- 
edge of his own selfhood, giving him some ideas of what 
was right and wrong in his thoughts and feelings. This 
was an important and responsible position to stand in ; 
and no doubt much valuable knowledge was gained, as 
they looked to the Lord and followed His directions, in 



252 THE CHURCH. 

their new state of the union of goodness and truth in 
them. But the history leaves us in entire ignorance of 
either their progress, or of the time of their continuance 
in this happy state. 

For we next find them, under temptations, eating of 
the forbidden tree. Their happy state, before they yielded 
to the subtlety of the serpent, is symbolized by a garden. 
In this lovely garden, all was sweet and fresh as spring. 
Not a thorn or thistle to mar the beauty of the human 
intellect. There stood the Tree of Life, laden with the 
fruits of eternal love. This tree was God Himself in His 
mercy and truth. It was the tree of Divine Wisdom 
giving forth goodness. Its fruits gave life, health, happi- 
ness, and peace to the soul. There, also, was the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil. This was the tree of man's 
selfhood ; of man's wisdom, humbly acknowledged to be 
all from the Lord. It was then a lovely tree, bearing 
the fruits of peace, of knowledge, and of good will, all 
received from the Tree of Life. Both these trees were 
necessary for the cultivation and development of this 
mental garden — the human mind. 

The tree of man's knowledge took root in man's self- 
hood. This selfhood is the human element given man by 
God, in order that he may know God and freely love Him. 
Man's selfhood, therefore, was a good tree, of God's own 
planting ; and without its cultivation and growth, man 
would be only an animal, not a man. The elements of this 
tree were freedom and rationality. Without these ele- 
ments, the human mind would be a machine. This tree, 
therefore, is what gives man his distinct individuality, and 
makes him human. But this tree alone would not make 
a man. It has no life of its own. Man is not a self-exist- 
ent being. Therefore, in order to have a man in the 



THE CHURCH. 253 

image and likeness of his God, the Tree of Life must also 
be there, acknowledged and loved. Now, while man 
went to the Tree of Life for goodness and truth — while he 
looked to the Lord for wisdom and guidance — all was 
well : the garden of his mind was budding and blossom- 
ing with new beauty, the Tree of Life was exhibiting new 
flowers and fruits, or new wisdom and goodness, every 
day. And his own tree of knowledge was growing up, 
straight and beautiful, bearing the fruits of righteousness, 
and mercy, for his neighbors. But when man, in the 
exercise of his freedom and curiosity, turned away from 
the Tree of Life, and ate of the tree of his own wisdom, 
he forgot his God, and became wise in his own eyes. 
When he ate of his own righteousness — of the tree of his 
own selfhood — it began to bear fruits only for himself. 
Before this, it was a generous tree, bearing all its fruits 
of kindness for the neighbor. Now, it was a selfish tree, 
feeling kind only toward self ; and, therefore, was feeding 
and inflating the mind with self- wisdom and self-righteous- 
ness. Thus he learned to value himself more than his 
God, and the world more than his neighbor. And from 
this tree of self-wisdom, bearing the fruits of self-right- 
eousness, have sprung all the evils and vices of humanity. 
Plad men never eaten of this tree, but always gone to the 
Lord for wisdom, it would then have remained ever grace- 
ful and lovely, because always modestly blooming with 
wisdom, drawn from the Tree of Life. 

But man, by trying his own skill, by experimenting 
in his own way, and by gradually overreaching the divine 
rules of order and justice, began to imagine that he was 
really becoming skilful and wise himself ; and this self- 
wisdom became pleasant to the eyes, or to the understand- 
ing, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. And his 



254 THE CHURCH. 

growing vanity began to think, and to desire to have 
others think, that it was all his own wisdom. And thus, 
step after step, in his own way, he grew daily in the esti- 
mation of his own importance, and finally took to himself 
the merit of all the wisdom and goodness that his God had 
given him. Tims he went to himself for knowledge ; de- 
pended upon his own sagacity ; and gave forth to others 
all that he knew, as the result of his own wonderful 
powers and prudence. In this way, he lost all true knowl- 
edge of his God, and even worshipped himself; and de- 
sired others to worship him. Thus came sin. 

And now, every person, in the supreme love of self, 
inwardly desires the praise, adoration, and worship of all 
others. This selfish state of mind leads to all the strifes 
and contentions among men, for praise, and power, and 
property, and preeminence ; and leads men into * every 
degree of sin and vice, for self-gratification. 

But, as the people were falling, God was in effort to 
save them. Thus we find Him calling out to them, in 
the garden, saying to Adam, " Where art thou \ " At 
this time, the garden of their mind still contained many 
beautiful trees and attractive objects. And they sought 
to hide themselves among the remaining good principles 
of their mind and character ; that is, they sought to keep 
the good qualities of their nature in sight ; and to hide 
their guilt and shame behind them. For it is written, 
" The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew 
that they were naked ; " that is, their understandings 
were opened, and they knew their evils were exposed to 
the divine truth. 

Now, from the expression " the eyes of loth of them 
were opened" one would suppose, from the literal sense, 
that only two persons were treated of: but the true mean- 



THE CHUBCH. 255 

ing is, the understandings of both males and females were 
opened, as to things good or evil, true or false. For they 
had eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 
Adam and Eve therefore do not mean two distinct persons, 
in this history ; but the men and the women ; and they 
mean, also, the two great elements of the human mind, the 
understanding and the will, which every person possesses : 
for the subject relates to the condition of the human 
family. And as the word " Adam " is the proper generic 
name for the race, and means all mankind, males and 
females, it is therefore written, " male and female created 
He them ; and called their name Adam." (Gen. v. 2.) 

Now the question, " Where art thou ? " was the Truth 
addressing itself first to the understanding, or male ele- 
ment. And the people reasoned among themselves, as 
to the cause of their sins. And they finally came to the 
conclusion, that the fault was in the will, or female ele- 
ment ; that they knew better than to sin, but that they 
could not help it. And how common it is for people thus 
to excuse themselves at the present day ! They want 
some way to get rid of the blame. For illustration : 
a person sins, whether male or female : he reflects upon 
it ; and his judgment or male element acknowledges the 
fact ; he sees that the law of order is broken. But he 
comes to the conclusion that he is not to blame ; that it 
was in his will to sin. " The woman," he says, or the 
will, " that thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of 
the tree, and I did eat ; " thus casting all the blame en- 
tirely from himself, on to God. For he says to himself, 
I did not make my will — my disposition — God gave it to 
me. " The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she 
gave me." Thus men reasoned in the garden, and thus 
they reason at this day. 



256 THE CHURCH. 

But as they continued to examine into, and to reason 
upon, the subject of their troubles, the question, by the 
light of truth, came up, as to where the will got the dispo- 
sition to sin? — whether God gave it? For "the Lord 
God — the Truth — said unto the woman, What is this that 
thou hast done ? " And, after mature deliberation, they 
changed their minds, as to the disposition to sin being ori- 
ginally in the will, and decided that it was in the senses. 
Thus they, in their will, answered, and said, " The serpent 
beguiled " the will, and the will sinned. Or the will says, 
" The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." And here they 
put all the blame away from both the will and the under- 
standing on to the senses — the serpent principle. So man 
now says he is not to blame for his sins — that he did not 
make his senses — that, if the temptation had not been in 
his way, he should not have sinned. If he had not seen 
the property, he should not have stolen it. If he had not 
heard the man's language, and seen his actions, and thus 
got angry, he should not have murdered him. Thus, he 
says, the senses of hearing and seeing beguiled the will 
into these acts of stealing and murder ; and the will over- 
ruled the understanding. " The woman gave," and man 
sinned. Thus the blame is all laid upon the serpent. 
And so now, God, or the Truth, says to man, " Where 
art thou ? " And these are his selfish replies, and flimsy 
excuses ; when he might readily see, that all that comes 
from God must be good and true ; and that man there- 
fore must have depraved his own senses, corrupted his 
own will, and beclouded his own understanding. 

Thus we see that the first effect of sin is to make man 
ashamed ; he feels like a naked man, and wants to hide 
himself from the scrutiny of Truth, behind a fair outside. 
Next comes deception, which is mental darkness : he 



THE CHURCH. 



257 



avoids the light. And the next thing is to justify him- 
self, and to cast the blame, first upon one thing and then 
upon another, and lastly upon his God. Then follows 
hatred to God and man ; and the love of nothing but what 
contributes to his own selfish gratification. 

Thus the race fell into sin. And the narrative 
next declares that God " drove them out of the garden." 
The garden being an orderly and happy state of the mind, 
it was their sins that dispossessed them of it. But it was 
the Lord, as the Truth, that apparently drove them out, 
or rather, that showed them that they were out, and ren- 
dered them unhappy from a sense of their guilt. And 
now they find themselves becoming more and more con,- 
tentious, depraved, and miserable. This is a sad state of 
the church : and they see that it cannot be long endured ; 
that it must lead to destruction. Something must be done 
to restore harmony and peace among them. To accom- 
plish this object, the understanding and the will of the 
people — the Adam and Eve of the church — set themselves 
to work to devise some doctrine or means which they 
could use for their good or the benefit of the church. 
They needed some rules of life. And they conceived 
and brought forth the doctrine of faith, and called its 
name Cain. 

Faith was the first-begotten of the church. They re- 
solved that they would not forget their God ; but would 
believe on Him, and acknowledge His supremacy and 
laws. But they found that one rule of life was not 
enough. And they brought forth and established another 
doctrine, which was charity ; and they called its name 
Abel. Thus, Adam, or the understanding of the church 
or people, in connection with Eve, or the will of the 
church, brought forth and established, for the guidance 



258 THE CHTTKCH. 

and government of the community, these two fundamen- 
tal doctrines or rules of life, Faith and Charity, called 
Cain and Abel. These rules taught them that they must 
believe in the Lord and regard His laws ; and also love 
one another and live in peace. 

In consequence of the fall, these rules had become ab- 
solutely necessary for the order and safety of the com- 
munity. They had eaten of the forbidden fruit — the tree 
of knowledge of good and evil. Their eyes or understand- 
ings were opened. And they had become wise in their 
own eyes, proud of their own wisdom. This brought dis- 
cord. Each wanted to rule. And they were under the 
necessity of looking to the Lord, by faith, and exercising 
the laws of charity, in order to make life agreeable. And 
to accomplish this, the church established these two doc- 
trines. They had now faith in the Lord, and charity 
toward the neighbor. And so long as they regarded these 
doctrines, all went on well, of course. This was the best 
that the Lord could do for them. 

But, as selfishness increased, some ceased to be satis- 
fied with the life of charity. It was more duty to the 
neighbor than they were willing to perform. And they 
gradually reasoned themselves into the belief that faith in 
God was all the doctrine that it was necessary to exercise. 
So long as they had charity, they offered the firstlings of 
the flock, or their best affections, to the Lord. But the 
faith of the head began to reason against the offerings of 
the heart, and these people said to themselves, It is not 
necessary to our salvation to love our neighbor : faith in 
God is far better. We need not give away any longer the 
firstlings of the flock — our best affections — for an offering ; 
we want them for ourselves. Surely, if we give the fruit 
of the ground, or true faith in the Lord, that will be all- 



THE CHUECH. 259 

sufficient. Love to the neighbor cannot save ns. Salva- 
tion is of God. We can do nothing. If we believe in 
the Lord, He will save ns by that faith. 

Thus the head reasoned against the heart, and the will 
and the understanding became separated. A strong con- 
tention arose between the judgment and the feelings, or 
between faith and charity, and eventually the selfishness 
of the natural, earthly man overruled the better feelings 
of the heart, and finally destroyed the love of the neigh- 
bor. 

Thus Cain, or Faith, slew his brother Abel, or Char- 
ity. The good affections of the heart were destroyed. 
Faith alone was the cold and selfish state of a portion of 
the church. The church was therefore divided into two 
parties. Thus the Cainites, or faith-alone-people, had 
their own peculiar views, distinct from those who still ad- 
hered to the principle of charity. But they were unhap- 
py creatures, as all must be who have no true love for one 
another. 

" And the Lord God said unto Cain, Where is Abel, 
thy brother ? And he said, I know not. Am I my broth- 
er's keeper? " Thus, in a reflective moment, the Lord, as 
the Truth, entered their minds, and they said to them- 
selves, Where is my love to the neighbor ? They saw and 
felt their coldness, and they answered, I know not where 
my charity is gone. And they answered truly, for they 
had ceased to be their brother's keeper. Their love of the 
neighbor was dead. They felt condemned under the light 
of this truth. They saw that they* were not what they 
should be. And, as said by the Lord, when they should 
till the ground, or cultivate the mind, it would not yield 
its strength : for faith without charity can produce no 
good fruits. The mental earth cannot be cultivated by 



260 THE CHURCH. 

truth without goodness. And in their luminous moments, 
they saw that they were fugitives and vagabonds in the 
earth. And they were fearful of becoming entirely de- 
stroyed or wretched. But the light which thus showed 
them their condition, did not reach their hearts so as to 
enkindle benevolence, but only to excite selfish fear. And 
as the truth had failed to call them back to goodness, the 
next effort of the Lord was to keep them from falling 
lower. And He therefore said, " Whosoever slayeth Cain, 
vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold : " that is, the 
Lord told them by the Truth, in their minds, that if they 
should destroy their faith in Him, or cease to believe in 
Him, they would be sevenfold more wretched than they 
were then. Their faith still gave them some connection 
with the Lord. There was something living in it. And 
if they should lose that, then, indeed, they would fall into 
the lowest wretchedness. 

He who disbelieves in a God whom he can love, is 
spiritually or mentally most miserable. He has no hope 
of future existence or heavenly joys. All he can see be- 
fore him, when this life ends, is darkness and extinction. 
And even this life loses its brightness and its true delights. 
These Cainites, therefore, settled down in the doctrine of 
faith alone. They became a portion of the church that dif- 
fered from the main body. And the Lord set a mark upon 
them, that they might be known and preserved. That 
mark was Faith. The ensign of the church from which 
they sprung would be Faith and Charity. Name or 
mark means quality. Faith or Cain was the quality or 
name of the new sect. That was their mark of distinc- 
tion. And so long as they should wear that mark — so 
long as they should have faith — they would have some 
spiritual life. But, being without charity, the light of 



THE CHURCH. 26l 

their faith in time grew dim and feeble. Thus it is said 
that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and 
dwelt in the land of Nod. They receded from the light 
and sunk into a vagabond state. Places denote states of 
mind ; land of Nod, a vagabond state, or a state desti- 
tute of goodness and truth. 

" And Cain knew his wife ; and she conceived, and 
bare Enoch : and he builded a city, and called the name 
of the city after the name of his son, Enoch." Now Cain 
was a society of men and women who believed in faith 
alone. Cain also means the understanding, the male ele- 
ment of that body. And as soon as these Cainites had 
cultivated a real love of the idea of faith alone ; when the 
feelings of the heart had become fully wedded to that sen- 
timent of the head ; those feelings were the wife — the will 
and the understanding of the people were wedded in that 
doctrine. And then followed the birth of Enoch. This 
church of Cain could have offspring, as well as the church 
of Adam. Thus these Cainites, through the union of their 
wills and understandings, gave birth to a whole system of 
doctrines of faith alone. Enoch, the child born, means 
these doctrines. This is known because city means doc- 
trines, and name, quality ; and it is said they builded a 
city, and called the name of the city after the name of 
their son, Enoch. The birth of Enoch, therefore, is the 
establishment of these doctrines of faith alone. And the 
building of the city is the arrangement of these doctrines 
into a system of faith. 

But the loss of Abel could not be made up by all the 
devices and powers of the mind. Where charity, the very 
soul and life of society, is lacking, there is a want which 
nothing can supply. And this want was fast pervading 
the whole Adamic people — all the human race of that 



262 THE CHUKCH. 

age. Under this state of things, something further must 
be done. Matters could not go on much further in this 
way, and be endurable. Therefore it is written that 
" Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and 
called his name Seth. For God, said she, hath appointed 
me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew." Here 
the general church devised a new doctrine, or way, which 
would supply the place of their lost charity, or Abel. 
This new son or truth of doctrine, brought forth by the 
united wisdom and love of the church, was good works. 
This son, Seth, which was given by the Lord instead of 
charity, was not charity itself;- if it had been it would 
have been called Abel. But it was given for the purpose 
of restoring to the people charity, for it was given in 
Abel's stead. And the divine object was thereby accom- 
plished. For the history says that fc> Seth was born a son, 
and they called his name Enos ; and that then began men 
to call on the name of the Lord. 

Thus Seth, or good works, brought forth love to God 
and the neighbor. For to call on the name of the Lord is 
to desire, and to receive, His quality. And this quality 
includes mercy and kindness toward all. Thus we see 
here verified the great truth, taught by our Lord, that, if 
we would enter into life, we must keep the command- 
ments. The Adamic church could not stand without the 
doctrine of works, as a basis. When they found them- 
selves rapidly falling, they established the doctrines of 
faith and charity ; and supposed these were rules of life 
enough. But faith and charity cannot stand unless they 
are ultimated and grounded in. works. Unless the works 
of faith and charity are kindly performed, Faith will sure- 
ly slay his brother Charity. "We now see why Adam 
gave names to only three children, Faith, Charity, and 



THE CHTTKCH. 263 

Works. It is because he was the church, and faith, char- 
ity, and works embrace everything of the church. They 
are from the three great fundamental principles, Wisdom, 
Love, and Power. The doctrine of works is the doctrine 
of charity, in action. And if we are not charitable, but 
have natural faith enough to see that we ought to be ; and 
will then do the works of charity, we shall become so. 
We now see the necessity of protecting Cain, or Faith, 
after he had slain his brother. For, without the natural 
truth of faith, we could not perform good works, and thus 
be brought into the love of the neighbor, and thereby ob- 
tain charity, and thence true spiritual faith. 

The lesson we draw from this history is twofold. 
First, that if we cease to give to God the firstlings of our 
flock, or our best affections, and trust to our own faith, we 
shall lose our charity, fall into a false and lifeless state of 
mind, and establish ourselves in false doctrines. Or, 
what is the same thing, we shall slay our brother Abel, 
remove from the presence of the Lord to the land of Eod, 
marry a wife, and build a city. And from this deplorable 
condition we can never be removed unless, in the second 
place, there is born unto us Seth, or good works, and we 
return to the presence of our God, in humble obedience to 
His commandments. 

Thus the Lord arrested the downward progress of the 
race for a season. But the people had become divided in 
sentiment, and changes were frequently made, and new 
things devised or begotten, by the church, in its various 
branches, under different names of persons as offspring, 
until the people had become so depraved that " the sons 
of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and 
they took them wives of all which they chose." (Gen. vi, 
2.) This state of things brought on the flood. For by 



264: THE CHURCH. 

the sons of God are meant truths in the minds of the peo- 
ple ;. and by the daughters of men are meant their evils. 
Any truth from God's love is a son of the Father. All 
truths in the complex are the Son of God. All affections 
that come from man's selfish proprium are evils ; and are 
here called daughters of men. Therefore, for the truths 
of the head to think the evils of the heart fair, and become 
wedded to them, is to falsify those truths, and fill the 
mind with deceit. Had these sons of God seen the 
daugl iters of God to be fair, and been wedded to them, all 
would have been well, for by daughters of God would 
have been meant good principles. 

In this flood of falsities, which inundated the mental 
world, the most ancient, or Adamic church, with all its 
branches, came to an end on the earth ; and the destruc- 
tion of all good affections, thoughts, and principles of the 
mind is signified by the destruction of animals, birds, &c, 
and a new order of things had to be introduced. Among 
the people called Noah, there were minds that could re- 
ceive these new instructions from the Lord, and become the 
church on a lower plane than that of the Adamic church. 

By Noah and his family are meant all those who were 
willing to receive and regard the Lord's new instructions. 
By the ark is meant the church, or the new state of order 
which the Lord was establishing in their minds, as to doc- 
trines and life. The church is now often called the ark 
of safety. By the materials and dimensions of the ark is 
meant the character and quality of the doctrines and prin- 
ciples of the church. This may at first strike some as 
strange and incredible. But this is a rule which holds 
good, by correspondences, throughout the entire Word. 
Much is said of the building of tabernacles and temples. 



THE CHUECH. 265 

Look at the materials and dimensions of the Holy City or 
New Church Doctrines- — a city 1,500 miles square, with 
gates, and walls, and foundations, and precious stones, and 
gold, and silver, and pearls, and glass, and trees, and riv- 
ers, and fruits, all coming down from God, out of heaven, 
into the human mind. Is the description of the ark, as 
applied to the principles of the church or the mind, any 
more strange than this ? 

By the building of the ark is denoted, the practising 
and establishing, by faithful and humble obedience, these 
new principles of life in the mind. For these doctrines and 
rules are various principles of goodness and truth, adapted 
to the states and wants of that age. And when these prin- 
ciples are received into the mind, that mind is the ark or 
the church. And though Noah and his family are said to 
be in the ark, yet the ark is also in them. Men are truly 
in the church only when the church or kingdom is in 
them. " I in thee and thou in Me," saith the Lord. 

The three stories of the ark denote that the people 
were taught something of the three degrees of the mind — 
celestial, spiritual, and natural. The window, in the top, 
denotes that they were taught that the understanding is 
the receptacle of the truth of the Word, the true light of 
heaven. The door in the side denotes that they were 
taught that they could also receive the truth by hearing 
and obeying the rules of the church. 

By their entering the ark is meant their coining under 
the power and influence of these doctrines and rules of 
life. By the animals, birds, and so forth, entering the 
ark, is meant the bringing of all their various affections, 
thoughts, and propensities within the control of the new 
divine rules. The clean beasts and cattle denote the good 
affections of the mind, and the unclean, the bad affections. 
12 



266 THE CHURCH. 

For on entering the ark, or coming under the influence 
of the doctrines, they took with them all their mental 
principles, good and bad. And here, in the church, the 
bad were to be subdued. The good are said to go in by 
sevens, because seven is a holy number, denoting purity. 

What is meant by its raining 40 days and 40 nights 
may be seen in chap, xiii, on numbers. 

At the time they entered the ark, we behold the 
people of that age in a state of profound darkness and er- 
ror : their whole mental earth inundated with falses. In 
the midst of this general gloom and wretchedness, we see 
a little band, called Noah and his family, hearkening to 
the new teachings of the Lord, and forming a little 
church. They call this church the ark. And they enter 
into its worship and instructions, bringing under its influ- 
ence all their wayward and various thoughts, feelings, 
and propensities — every living creature of their mind and 
heart — and they feed them there with food from heaven, 
or with divine goods and truths. In this ark or church, 
they keep their falses under, and thus the ark is raised in 
their estimation above their own and the surrounding wa- 
ters of error, until its doctrines rise to the very summit 
of their affections. They truly love them. The ark rests 
on the Ararat of their hearts — their love to God and His 
truth. And as they were purified, and came into states 
of true thoughts and feelings, they felt a sincere regard 
for the salvation of the world of mankind lying in dark- 
ness around them. And they kindly sent forth the dove 
to see if the waters or falses were abated from their 
minds. The dove corresponds to the Holy Spirit — the 
spirit of truth and love. 

This little church then sent forth that gentle spirit to 
the world of mind around, to see if the darkness of error 



THE CHURCH. 267 

had subsided, and they would accept the truth. But all 
was still false — dark as night. The dove found no rest for 
the sole of her foot, for the waters were on the whole 
face of the earth. No mind could receive the truth. 
"What Christian heart that has a new and heavenly truth 
has not experienced the same thing, in his efforts to pre- 
sent that truth to other minds ? How often the gentle 
dove has returned unto him, into the ark of his own bosom, 
for a place to rest her foot ! 

Noah first sent forth a raven, a bird denoting very ex- 
ternal truth. This flew to and fro in their external under- 
standings, till their falses had so subsided as to receive it. 
But they could receive nothing higher. It was necessary 
that they should have the external truth first, denoted by 
the raven. " First that which is natural, afterward that 
which is spiritual." 

But Noah, after the return of the dove, waited seven 
days, or till they had come into new states of mind from 
the exercise of the natural truth ; and he sent forth the 
dove again, or offered them the spiritual truth once more. 
But their perceptions were still too dark to receive her ; 
and she returned : " And, lo, in her mouth was an olive 
leaf plucked off." The olive tree, from its oil, denotes ce- 
lestial love : the leaf denotes the truth of faith from that 
love. The return of the dove, with the olive leaf plucked 
off, denotes that they would receive some little of spiritual 
truth, or some faith, but could not yet receive the love. 
The leaf was plucked off, or separated from the tree. 
Noah waited yet other seven days, or for new states of 
mind, and sent forth the dove again, and then they re- 
ceived the spirit of truth. And now the church began to 
spread among other minds. 

Thus was established the Noatic state of the church — 



268 THE CHURCH. 

the second distinct feature of the Lord's kingdom among 
men, symbolized by an ark. There the little society called 
Noah and his family were the church, in the light and life 
of new Divine Truths ; while all the community around 
them were immersed in falsities. But Noah instructed 
them in the Divine Truth. This we are taught by his 
sending forth the dove, which denoted the Holy Spirit 
■ — the Spirit of Truth. 

And Noah planted in their minds a vineyard ; or, in 
other words, the people of this church cultivated their 
hearts by the reception, propagation, and giving forth of 
spiritual truths. But in process of time Noah or the 
church fell in love with his vineyard, instead of God who 
gave it ; and they became drunken with the mental wine 
of their own raising ; or, in other words, they took to 
themselves the merits of the vineyard, considered the 
truths their own wisdom, and became intoxicated with 
the errors of selfishness. Thus the second state of the 
church was lost, and man sunk into naturalism. 

Noah, like Adam, ate of the forbidden tree — the tree 
of his own wisdom. 

Men had now become so low that the Lord could no 
longer approach them and teach them without written 
laws and rules, rites and ceremonies. He therefore gave 
them the commandments on Mount Sinai, and established 
the church or the peremptory law of obedience. This 
was the third or Jewish church. This state of the church 
was symbolized by outward religious rites and ceremonies. 
It was simply a church of works, in which men were to 
fear God and keep His commandments. Men had be- 
come entirely natural ; they had none but the most vague 
ideas of a spiritual world, or of a life after death. They 
looked only for temporal rewards and punishments. They 



THE' CHURCH. 269 

were to fear God and keep His commandments. All then- 
rites and ceremonies were in trne correspondences. And so 
long as they humbly performed them, and kept the com- 
mandments because God had commanded it, they received 
spiritual life, and could be prepared for heaven. But in 
time they lost their reverence and respect for God and 
His laws, and kept the commandments and performed 
their religious ceremonies entirely from selfish motives. 
Thus they fell into the lowest state of perverted human- 
ity. A state denoted by whited sepulchres, generation of 
vipers, sthTnecked people, scribes, pharisees, hypocrites. 

/ We have now traced the decline of humanity or of the 
church from its highest state of purity and innocence, as a 
garden of Eden, down to its lowest state of sin and selfish- 
ness, as an unfruitful wilderness ; a state in which God 
could no longer reach men without assuming their nature. 
The fall was now completed : humanity had gone down to 
the very verge of complete destruction. Step after step it 
had declined, and the merciful Lord had followed it, until 
the last spark of life was about to expire. 

To this little spark the Lord, through the virgin Mary, 
united Himself, wrapped around as it was with all the 
depravity of the race, so that, in the assumed nature, 
" He was tempted in all points like as we are." Thus 
He met the enemies and the evils of humanity on their 
own ground, rescued the race from destruction, turned the 
face of humanity upward, purified and glorified the as- 
sumed nature, and made it a Divine Mediator or Medium 
between the Father within and the wicked world without. 
And through the power of His Spirit, proceeding from 
His Divine Humanity, He established the Christian 
church, and gave us the blessed Gospel. 

Herein He brought life and immortality to light ; 



270 THE CHUECH. 

taught them of heaven and of hell, of the resurrection, of 
the judgment, and of the future life. 

But He told His disciples that that was not His last 
dispensation ; that He would come again and establish 
the New Jerusalem. And He gave them the Apocalypse, 
which is a clear and distinct prophecy of the passing away 
of that state of the church, and of the coining of the new one. 

Now, what was the first coming of the Lord ? It was 
the Divine Truth or the Word, which " was in the begin- 
ning with God," and which " was God," assuming our na- 
ture and coming thereby into the minds of men. It was the 
Divine Truth rilled with the Divine Love, spoken from the 
material body of the Lord, and also from the written Gospel. 

What is the second coming of the Lord ? It is the 
same Divine Truth filled with the same Divine Love, in 
its spirit and life, coming through the written Gospel into 
the minds of men. 

The first coming was to the lowest possible state of 
mankind, when they had no thought of anything higher 
than matter. He therefore had to come into their de- 
praved nature and in a material body. For thus only 
could He reach their low state ; and then only by the lite- 
ral sense of the Word. 

But now, at the second coming, having put off that 
material body and everything depraved, He comes into 
the minds of men, as the Divine Word, not only in the 
literal sense, but also in its spirit and its life. The " many 
things," therefore, which at the first coming, He had to 
say to His disciples that they could not bear, He now 
reveals, showing us " plainly of the Father." 

Thus we have in the Holy Word an account of the 
coming of the Lord to establish the New Jerusalem, the 
last and highest state of the church, the crowning dispen- 



THE CHURCH. 271 

sation of the Holy "Word. The state of the Christian 
world, at this coming, is symbolically and prophetically 
described, in the 24th chapter of Matthew, as having 
passed through immense tribulation ; such as divisions, 
persecutions, wars, pestilences, earthquakes, and famines, 
until the Sun of Righteousness, in many minds, had be- 
come darkened, and the moon of faith did not give her 
light, and the stars of true knowledge had fallen from 
their mental heaven : i. e., until they were in doubts and 
darkness as to what to believe, and saw not the bright 
truths of the Word which they needed. And who can 
look through the present state of the Christian world, in all 
its various and conflicting aspects, from the gross Mormon- 
ism of ignorant Joe Smith, up to the views of learned 
doctors, who are now representing the Sacred Word of 
Light and Life as in the shades of error and contradiction 
— who, I say, can look at this picture and not see this 
prophecy being fulfilled ? Well may our Lord have said, 
" Except those days should be shortened, there should no 
flesh be saved." (Matt, xxiv, 22.) 

In this condition of the church on earth it is declared 
that there should be seen the sign of the coming of the 
Son of Man ; and that He should come in the clouds of 
heaven, or in the letter of the Word, as seen in the becloud- 
ed state of men's minds — their mental heaven. The full 
description of this final church is given in the Apocalypse, 
which closes the canon of Scripture, and therefore the Di- 
vine history of the church. This description we find in 
the 21st chapter of Revelation, under the similitude of a 
Holy City, coming down from God out of heaven, pre- 
pared as a bride adorned for her husband. 

Now, what is this Holy City ? It is a pure system of 
doctrines, teaching clearly the nature and character of 



272 THE CHURCH. 

God and His laws ; and of man and all his duties. The 
city is said to he " pure gold, like unto clear glass," be- 
cause the doctrines are all good and clearly seen, and 
make us rich unto salvation ; gold denoting goodness or 
heavenly riches, and clear glass meaning truth under- 
stood. A city is a beautiful symbol of doctrines, because 
it is used for the indwelling, comfort, intercourse, instruc- 
tion, protection, support, and happiness of its inhabitants. 
Here they perform their labor, treasure up their wealth, 
build their houses and churches, attend their worship, sell 
their merchandise from man to man, and perform the du- 
ties of this life. Thus a city, in order, completely repre- 
sents those heavenly doctrines, or rules of life, through 
which our souls may be brought together, to dwell in mu- 
tual love, use, and benefit, accumulating heavenly riches, 
and, as we need, passing from soul to soul, the precious 
goods and truths of spiritual life. A good man spiritually 
dwells in such doctrines of the Holy "Word, as he naturally 
dwells in a city. 

This Holy City of pure gold, like unto clear glass, is 
the doctrine of the Word in its spiritual light, shining 
through the literal sense. It is said to have twelve foun- 
dations of precious stones. Now, what are these founda- 
tions? They are all natural truths. All natural truths 
Whatever, whether scientific, civil, or religious, are the ba- 
sis of spiritual truths. When, therefore, from the spirit- 
ual light of the Word, are clearly presented to the mind 
the beautiful doctrines of the trinity, atonement, fall, re- 
generation, resurrection, judgment, heaven, and hell, 
they strike the natural mind as true, for they are ra- 
tional and consistent. This is because all natural truths 
are in harmony with spiritual truths. And when the 
natural mind, which is exercised with natural truths, is 



THE CHTTKCH. 273 

open to the reception of spiritual truths, those spiritual 
truths are seen through the natural truths, and rest upon 
them as a foundation. And while the foundations of this 
city are natural truths, the Light of the city is Spiritual 
Truth. There is " no need of the sun, neither of the 
moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, 
and the Lamb is the light thereof." The spiritual truth 
of the Holy "Word, in the human mind, is the light of the 
doctrines, the glory of this city. 

The gates of the city are introductory truths, denoted 
by pearls. Doctrines are things for the understanding. 
And to see the inner light of this city — the spiritual light of 
the doctrines — we must pass the gates ; that is, these gates 
must introduce to our minds the spiritual light. What 
then are these gates — these introductory truths ? They are 
the truths of analogy, seen by correspondences. They are 
the scientific light which shows the relation between the 
book of nature and the book of Revelation— between the 
works and the Word of God — between the literal and the 
spiritual sense of the Sacred Scriptures. Through these 
gates of pearl we enter understandingly into the Holy 
City. Pearls denote scientific truths, because things 
of the sea denote scientifics. There are twelve of these 
gates ; three on each of the four sides of the city ; the 
East, the West, the North, and the South. By the num- 
ber 12, which denotes perfect fulness, we learn that these 
gates comprise all analogical truths whatever ; the entire 
circle of the science of correspondences. 

But it is not necessary to understand all this science in 
order to enter this city. We can begin to enter on the 
East side, when the light of this science, like that of the 
rising sun, first feebly strikes us ; or we can enter on the 
South side, when we have a full blaze of the light, as at 
12* 



274 THE CHURCH. 

noon-day ; or we can enter on the West side when we 
have neglected properly to use the light, till it is passing 
away ; we can even then nse the light and enter the city ; 
or we can enter on the North side, where the light is dim 
and the feelings cool. Thus we can enter in the Spring 
of life, or in the Summer of life, or in the Autumn, or in 
the Winter. The gates of the JSTew Jerusalem are never 
shut to man while he lives. And whether he has little 
light or much, if he uses the light he has, he can enter the 
heavenly abode. 

But to enter, on either side, we must pass the three 
gates. These three gates are not side by side, but one 
within another, and united. To pass one or two will do 
us no good, unless we pass the third : for the number 3, 
in the Word, always points to the three great elements of 
life — wisdom, love, and power. These three gates, or 
classes of introductory truths, have therefore regard to our 
faith, our charity, and our works. When the spiritual 
light of the Word, by the law of analogy, enters our mind, 
we soon begin to see that in order to enter this city, or 
love these doctrines, we must feel right and act right, as 
well as see right : that our heart and our head must be in 
the work ; that faith alone, or charity alone, or works 
alone, or any two of these together, will never bring us 
within the Holy City, or into the society of the pure and 
good. We must have goodness as well as truth, and we 
must do our duty. We must pass the three gates. 

The streets of this city are the common paths or prin- 
ciples of life, wherein we meet our fellow men and carry 
out the golden rules of justice and mercy. 

The form of this city is symbolized by a cube, because 
forms denote qualities. It is therefore said to be " four- 
square ; " the length, the breadth, and the height of it 



THE CHURCH. 275 

being equal. Here again that wonderful number 3 comes 
in, with its heavenly instructions ; for length has relation 
to goodness ; breadth, to truth ; and height, to use ; thus 
teaching that the doctrines are as good as they are true, 
and as useful as they are good and true. And here also 
that full and perfect number 12 is again used, to define 
the extent and quality of this length, breadth, and height 
of doctrines ; calling them each 12,000 furlongs ; which 
means that they comprise all goods, truths, and uses ; in- 
finite Love, "Wisdom, and Power in all their varieties and 
their fulness. 

This city or doctrine is said to be measured by an an- 
gel with a golden reed. This is because, by measuring, is 
meant ascertaining the quality. And as gold denotes 
goodness, and reed, truth, so we are taught by this meas- 
uring, that it is only by truth from good through angelic 
and heavenly influences, that we can know the divine 
quality of these doctrines. Now, what, in the letter alone, 
seems strange, is, that though this city is declared to be 
12,000 furlongs square, yet its wall is said to be the meas- 
ure of a man ; i. e., of an angel. But this is because a 
true man or angel loves the Holy Word, and is filled with 
these doctrines ; they are therefore his spiritual measure 
or quality. 

Now, for a man to enter this city, the city must also 
enter him. And we are taught that " there shall in no 
wise enter into it anything that deiileth, neither whatso- 
ever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; " by which 
we are taught that, though we may have these doctrines 
in our understanding, yet we can receive them into our 
affections only as we put away our evils ; that these pure 
elements will not mingle with falses and evils. Who then 
enters the Holy City ? " He that overcometh." What 



276 THE CHURCH. 

does he find there ? The Tree of Life. " To him that 
overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, which is 
in the midst of the paradise of God," saith our Lord. 
Here we are again, with the Adamites of old, in the para- 
dise of God, eating of the Tree of Life, in the midst of the 
garden of the mind. But this Tree of Life is here men- 
tioned as having leaves as well as fruits : " And the leaves 
of the tree are for the healing of the nations." These 
leaves are the scientific truths which God is now giving 
us — those beautiful truths of analogy which open to us 
the Holy Word, and clearly show us the origin and na- 
ture of our evils, and how to put them away and be 
healed. There were no healing leaves mentioned upon 
the first Tree of Life, for there was then nobody sick. All 
had health and life ; their minds were open to truths from 
the Lord by intuitive influx, and the fruit of the Tree was 
all that they needed. 

"We have now taken a summary view of the five dis- 
tinct features of the church, or of the five peculiarly 
marked states of humanity, in the spiritual history of our 
race, as definitely recorded in the Word of Almighty 
God. Let us now glance, for a moment, at the remark- 
able order of the succession of these states of the church 
in the fall and rise of humanity. 

In the first, the Adamic state of the church, before the 
fall, w T e have the innocent, artless, infantile character of 
the race. The people were simple, open, sincere, affec- 
tionate, and true. They knew and felt no wrong. The 
will and the understanding were united. The will prin- 
ciple, as in children, ruled. And the will being right, 
they felt right ; and therefore they saw and acted right. 
Love or charity was the first and dominant element in this 
church ; they did right because they felt it to be right. 



THE CHURCH. 277 

But in the second state of the church, the Noatic, the 
will was depraved, and therefore its impulses were wrong. 
It could not go right without instruction from God. They 
had to have an ark or doctrines. The will and the un- 
derstanding were separated. Truth, or faith, therefore, 
and not love, was the first and dominant element in this 
state of the church : they did right because they saw it to 
be right ; and their wills had to submit to the dictates of 
the Truth of their faith ; they had to enter the ark and 
obey the doctrines. 

But in the third, or Jewish state of the church, the 
will was not only depraved, but the understanding was 
darkened, so that they could neither see nor feel right. 
Therefore, neither love nor truth, neither charity nor 
faith, was, with them, the first and dominant element, but 
works or use. They did right simply because they were 
commanded, and were afraid to do otherwise. Here we 
have a trine in the states of the church. In the first, charity 
ruled ; in the second, faith ruled, and in the third, works 
ruled. The Lord led the Adamic church by charity, the 
Noatic church by faith, and the Jewish church by works. 

And when works proved inefficient, and man lost the 
love of obedience, the Lord assumed our nature and estab- 
lished a church wherein truth led to goodness. Faith was 
the first or leading element of the Christian church, with 
charity as its life. Thus the Lord elevated the church 
from the plane of works to that of faith or truth as its 
guarding principle^ still retaining the works and charity. 
This put the Christian church on a level with the Eoatic. 

But the province of the New Jerusalem is to bring the 
church up to the plane of the Adamic, when love will be 
the predominant element, retaining faith and works. 

Thus the steps up the mountain are the same as the 



278 THE CHURCH. 

steps down : — the Adamic church, of charity ; the ISToatic, 
of faith ; and the Jewish, of works : and then, commen- 
cing at the bottom, we have the Jewish church of works ; 
the Christian, of faith ; and the New Jerusalem, of char- 
ity. Thus we see that charity, faith, and works are the 
three great elements of the church, embracing the Love, 
Wisdom, and Power of God ; and that no church can 
exist without them. 

When love or charity rules, the church is in the 
highest or celestial state ; when truth or faith rules, it is 
in the spiritual state ; and when use or works rules, it is 
in the natural state. But there can be no church without 
works. For works are the basis and continent of the other 
elements. If Love rules, man sees the truth and does his 
duties from love of goodness. If Faith rules, it works by love 
and purines the heart, by the love of truth. If Works 
of righteousness, or the keeping of the commandments 
in the reverence and fear of God, rules, it has the letter 
of the Law, which brings to view the light of natural 
truth, and inspires a love of use. 

Now, in the JSTew Jerusalem state, the church is to 
possess all its elements in their true order. All that there 
ever has been of the true church on earth, will be therein 
embodied. For nothing of the church has ever been lost. 
The Adamic church still exists, in its purity, in the celes- 
tial heavens ; the Eoatic, in the spiritual heavens ; and 
the Jewish, in the natural heavens. The real fact is, that 
the church of God has never fallen. It has been the peo- 
ple that have fallen away from the church ; goodness, 
truth, and use cannot fall. They are divine and eternal 
principles. Thus it is an appearance only, that the church 
becomes depraved and falls. For the depravity is not the 
church. When, therefore, we look at the church, in its di- 



THE CHURCH. 279 

vided elements, we can see that there has been only one 
church on the earth. This church has existed under vari- 
ous states and dispensations, developing, in man, its vari- 
ous qualities and uses. Only that which was good, true, 
and useful, in the people, has been the church. Their 
falses and evils have been something else. 

The church commenced with the creation of man. 
And, by means of it, humanity has been developed, by 
Divine influence, from its infancy to its manhood. Thus, 
the Adamic state was the church in its infancy ; the JNTo- 
atic state, the church in its childhood ; the Jewish state, 
the church in its youth ; the Christian state, the church in 
its early manhood; and the New Jerusalem state, the 
church in its age and maturity. In this state the seals of 
the Holy Word are loosed, and the Book is opened to the 
minds of men, and their minds are opened to the "Word ; 
and men learn, from God, the laws of the spiritual world, 
and of their own souls. Herein all the prophecies of the 
"Word are fulfilled, and the canons of Scripture point no 
further. 

This is then the full and crowning state of the church. 
Herein humanity is to be restored to the primeval order 
of the race, with this difference : then it was as an inno- 
cent, inexperienced, confiding child, loving goodness su- 
premely, knowing no sin, and seeing intuitively, by the 
Lord's Wisdom, in the clear light of analogy, the higher 
laws of creation and providence : but now, it is to be as 
an educated man, knowing good from evil, loving su- 
premely the good, and despising the evil ; and seeing ra- 
tionally and scientifically, by the same Divine Wisdom, 
in the same light of analogy, the same higher laws of crea- 
tion and providence ; and then loving and walking in 
those laws. 



280 THE CHURCH. 

And now we see that there will be no more fall of 
man. For men fell from the want of experience, and of a 
knowledge of evil. Now the appalling consequences of 
evil are before the eyes of all, and are bitterly experienced 
by every individual. And all its dreadful qualities are 
depicted in the Holy Word, in the most striking colors. 
And, knowing the consequences, the world of mankind, 
when restored to millennial order, will no more fall into 
sin. Glorious and happy day, when all shall know the 
Lord, from the least to the greatest, when every knee shall 
bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 



The few ideas which we shall advance upon the sub- 
ject which has agitated the Christian world more than 
all others, will be drawn from the truths and facts which 
God has given us all in common, both in His Word and 
in His works. From them, and the history and experi- 
ence which men of observation have had, of human na- 
ture, we may learn much about heaven and hell. In- 
deed, men, in this world, see and know a great deal more 
about heaven and hell than they may suppose they do. 
Few pass through this life, without having much bitter 
experience in things pertaining to hell ; or without see- 
ing many things that may give them rational lessons of 
heaven. 

But, in order properly to investigate the subject before 
us, we must have just views of the nature and character 
of the Divine Being, as expressed in Chapter II. We 
must see something of the heavenly quality and light of 
His mind ; and we must make that truth the touchstone, 
by which to decide every doctrine of the Holy Word. 
For the Lord is the truth of the Word, and the light of its 
doctrines. We must see that God is love, goodness, 



282 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

mercy, wisdom, truth, purity, virtue, and every possible ex- 
cellence, in full infinitude ; and that His sphere is heaven : 
that He is the very light, and life, and peace, and joy, 
and happiness of heaven ; and that everything opposite in 
character to His sphere and qualities, is hell. Now, 
heaven, with men, is a state of happiness, peace, and joy, 
resulting from the true love and possession of these divine 
qualities. And hell is a state of misery and unhappiness, 
springing from the perversion and want of these qualities, 
and from the love and indulgence of their opposites, the 
origin of which is expressed in Chapter III. Therefore, 
with the history of human nature before us, and the light 
of the Holy Word, we may learn a great deal about 
heaven and hell. And the knowledge we thus gain may 
be depended upon ; for it will be founded in facts, and 
drawn from rational and scientific deductions. All inves- 
tigations, philosophically made, in the light of divine 
truth, lead the mind to rest its conclusions upon eternal 
verities. There is nothing uncertain and wavering in 
the divine mind ; and all principles, whether good or evil, 
when rationally seen, in the light of the divine mind, are 
seen as they are. We may therefore gain a much better 
knowledge of what heaven and hell really are, in them- 
selves, from a rational knowledge of the elements and in- 
fluences which constitute them, than we could from a 
personal observation of them without that knowledge ; 
for, in the latter instance, we should see only the appear- 
ance of things, without a knowledge either of the things 
themselves, or of the causes from which they presented 
such an appearance. 

Besides, appearances there as well as here must depend, 
in a great measure, upon the spiritual states of the ob- 
servers. Hell would therefore appear much less revolting 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 283 

and forbidding to some minds than to others ; and heaven, 
much less inviting and pleasant. Man's true ground, 
therefore, for a knowledge of heaven and hell, whether he 
be a resident of this world or of the other, is a clear 
understanding of spiritual things, drawn from the Holy 
Word of the Most High God. He must understand the 
real qualities of good and evil minds, and the laws and 
impulses by which their movements are propelled or re- 
strained. "Without this knowledge of the principles and 
elements of human souls, and of their operations, we 
should understand as little of the real nature and meaning 
of the scenery of the spiritual world, were we disem- 
bodied and in it, as the ignorant Hindoo does of the mo- 
tions of the heavenly bodies. 

A knowledge of the Lord, therefore, and of His Holy 
Word, is essentially necessary to a proper understanding 
of heaven and hell, or of any scenery in the spiritual 
world. Because it is by the light of the Holy Word, in 
the understandings of men, that spiritual things are seen 
and understood ; and furthermore, because the light of 
that Word is the only true light of the spiritual world, 
which presents things as they really are. The light of the 
spiritual world is truth. But that truth strikes the eye 
of each mind according to the quality and sphere of the 
understanding. To minds therefore who do not under- 
stand the true doctrines and light of the Holy Word, 
things in the spiritual world are not seen as they really 
are in themselves, but only as they appear to be, from the 
states of those who see them. !N"o one, therefore, but a 
good person, who sees the light of the Holy Word, and 
who understands it and loves it, could give us any true 
account of the scenery and things in the spiritual world, 
or of heaven and hell, were he to come from thence, and 



284 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

openly converse with us ; because he would have no true 
knowledge himself of what he had seen. 

Everything in the spiritual world appears according to 
the quality of the eye which sees, and the character of the 
light which reflects it. And the light of the spiritual 
world is of all shades from truth to falsity. The light of 
heaven is truth, and the light of hell is falsity. Are we 
asked how we know these things ? We answer, because 
the spiritual world is a world of mind ; the eyes which 
see in that world are the understandings of men ; and 
the proper light for the understanding is truth ; and un- 
derstandings are of all characters and qualities — some see- 
ing in false light and some in true. And though falsity 
is darkness to the true understanding, yet it is as light to 
the perverted mind. But lest this answer should not sat- 
isfy the inquirer, we say further, that this is the law of 
mental seeing, even of persons in this world. If we pre- 
sent the truth to a mind who views the subject in a false 
light and loves that false light, we cannot make him see 
the truth. It is as darkness to him. It requires much 
clear argument and practical illustration to convince a 
man, confirmed in error from false education and evil 
loves, that his views are false. Such a mind, with over- 
whelming testimony, even while in an inquiring state, 
could see the truth but dimly, at first, and could only 
gain a clear view by yielding to its teachings, in op- 
position to his evil loves, and pursuing a new course 
of life. 

Thus our chief dependence for a knowledge of heaven 
and hell is the Word of God, and a rational view, by its 
light, of the character of our Heavenly Father and of hu- 
man nature in its lights and shades. And from the truths 
and facts which we have before us, on this subject, we 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 285 

may rationally inquire into what must be the nature and 
character of heaven and hell in the next life. 

The first questions that naturally arise, on the subject, 
are, where is the spiritual world ? and, how does it differ 
from this ? The spiritual world is a world of mind ; and 
therefore wherever there is a human mind, there is the 
spiritual world, whether that mind be in a body of flesh 
or not. The spiritual world can be no more separated 
from the material world, than cause can be separated from 
effect. Nor could one world exist without the other any 
more than cause could exist without effect, or effect with- 
out a cause. Wherever there is matter there is life of 
some quality ; and that life is spiritual substance, and is 
a part of the spiritual world. But spiritual substances, 
like material, are of infinite varieties and organizations. 
There are the spiritual brain, eye, ear, heart, lungs, hand, 
foot ; each of a different quality and organization, and all 
filled with life from the Lord, which is a higher quality 
of substance still. And the spiritual world is not only 
the cause of the material, but it is ever with it, organizing 
and moulding all its forms. 

In the phrase spiritual world are embraced all spirit- 
ual substances, of every quality, infinite and finite, good 
and true, evil and false. Everything good and true, in 
that world, constitutes heaven ; and everything evil and 
false constitutes hell. Where, then, shall we look for the 
spiritual world ? Shall we look into open space for it ? 
What is there there? The largest telescopes show us 
nothing but material bodies. Where is heaven ? On one 
of the stars ? Some have located it in the realms of space, 
beyond the planetary systems, nobody knows where. 
And where is hell ? Some have located it in the sun, 
some in the earth, and some in space unknown. But such 



286 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

speculations are all drawn from the wild imaginations of 
the natural mind, for the want of the spiritual light of the 
Word. For we need not go out of ourselves, and the 
community in which we live, to find the spiritual world, 
and heaven and hell. Our bodies are in the natural 
world, and our souls in the spiritual. But our external 
minds are so much in the love of the world, and are so 
natural, that our natural bodies serve as a screen to pre- 
vent our spiritual bodies and senses from being open to 
the world to which they belong. 

While, therefore, we are in the natural body, and in 
the love of self and the world, it is much better that the 
spiritual world should be shut from our view. For, in 
such a state of mind, we should not understand it, if we 
saw it. It would appear to us according to our states of 
mind, and not as it is in itself. We should have false 
views of it, and should express those views to others, and 
thus evil, instead of good, would be the result of the intro- 
mission. 

Now, heaven and hell are not places, but states of 
mind. " The kingdom of God cometh not with observa- 
tion : " is not " Lo here ! or, lo there ! for, behold, the 
kingdom of God is within you." And the apostle James 
says, " The tongue is an unruly member, and it setteth on 
fire the course of nature, and it sets it on fire of hell." 
Thus the tongue, by slander, may make a natural man 
angry, and thus set him on fire of hell. So we are taught 
that hell, as well as heaven, is within the human heart, 
even while the man may be living in this world. In- 
deed, heaven is in the souls of all good persons, whether 
they live in this world or the other. And hell is in the 
souls of all bad ones. The fires of hell are anger, hatred, 
revenge and malice ; and they sometimes burn with great 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 287 

rage against their victims. Heaven also has its fires, but 
they are the glowing affections of love, friendship, mercy 
and kindness. 

The society of those who have heaven within them, 
constitutes heaven as a community. And that society 
extends, in its relations, to the souls of the good, in both 
worlds. And so the community of hell extends to all, in 
both worlds, whose ruling love is the love of evil and self. 

When, therefore, a person puts off the material body, 
he finds himself, at once, in the spiritual world, without 
going anywhere. He was there "before / but his body pre- 
vented his being sensible of it. And as the light of that 
world now strikes the eye of his understanding, he decides 
what his heart loves most, rejecting the things adhering 
to him which are not in accordance with his ruling love, 
and choosing the society most like his own heart, whether 
it be of heaven or of hell. This examination, through 
which he passes, by the light of truth, thus operating 
upon his own mind, is the judgment. As he puts off the 
natural body and comes into spiritual light, he sees the 
things of the spiritual world according to his state. And 
if his ruling love is the love of evil, he sees things not as 
they really are, but only as they appear to him to be. 
His state falsifies the light, and evil looks to him as good ; 
and he chooses to retain his evils, and to have the society 
of the bad. And the same man falsified the truth while 
he was in this world. The truth undertook to show him 
the evil of stealing, lying, adultery and covetousness ; but 
he did not see the evil, as it was. The results of these 
vices looked good to him, and he sought them. And 
putting off the body did not change the affections of the 
soul. His only sure way of salvation was to change his 
ruling love, while in this world by resisting temptations 



288 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

and living a godly life, till his soul loved good and loathed 
evil. 

But when the person whose ruling love is the love of 
good puts off the material body, and the light of the spir- 
itual world strikes the eye of his understanding, he sees it 
as truth, and it shows him the things of the spiritual 
world as they are ; he sees his remaining evils as bad, and 
loathes and rejects them ; and he goes with his like. 
And this he had been practising in this world ; and his 
spiritual eye was prepared for the light. 

The punishment which the wicked receive is none of 
God's inflicting. He could not put evil into the human 
heart ; and evil in the heart is the hell, and the cause of 
all the suffering. It is a hell of man's own making and 
choosing. But we are still asked how we know that 
the spiritual world is here in our midst, while we live in 
this world ? We answer, the Holy Word teaches it, our 
reason declares it, and all we know of spiritual things con- 
firms it. What is God but a spirit ? and where is He 
not ? And yet, where He is, there must be the spiritual 
world. And what are angels but spirits ? And yet they 
are declared to be with us. And where angels are, there 
must be the spiritual world. What makes the trees grow, 
the animals feel, and men think and love, but life from 
God ? And what is life but spiritual substance ? Then 
wherever life is, there is the spiritual world. 

Is not heaven here, then ? Are not God and our 
guardian angels in heaven ? And yet they are with 
us. And is not hell here? Are not evil spirits with 
men ? Do we not behold sad pictures of their evil opera- 
tions, upon the hearts of men, all around us ? and do we 
not feel their deceptive influence on our own hearts ? 
And yet, evil spirits are all in hell. But are hell and 



HEAVEN AND HELL. ^89 

heaven together then? No. For there is a "■ great gulf" 
between them. Not a gulf as to space, but as to quality. 
Similarity of views and feelings brings souls together; 
dissimilarity separates them. Those the most like God 
are, apparently, the nearest to Him : those the most un- 
like Him are the farthest from Him. And yet he is omni- 
present. It is the quality of the heart that makes the dis- 
tinction. 

But how can men, in this world, have something of 
heaven and hell in the same mind, and have their angels 
and evil spirits around them, and still heaven and hell not 
be together ? The spiritual world is entirely above the 
measurements and reckonings which we give to time and 
space. A person who is being regenerated has something 
of both heaven and hell in him. But there is a great 
gulf between them. The heaven is forming in the inter- 
nal mind, and the angels are guarding it ; while hell still 
adheres to the external mind, and the devils are tempting 
it. But there is a great gulf between these angels and 
devils, and between the internal mind and external mind. 
They are unlike, and in warfare, and the two minds can 
come together, only as the evils are removed. 

Heaven and hell have each their various societies in 
the spiritual world ; those coming together, in each king- 
dom, according to their states, desires, and habits. And 
they have their distinct governments. Heaven is gov- 
erned by love, and hell by fear. We know this from the 
way human nature is governed in this world. The good 
here are governed by love — the love of the law, love of 
order, love of virtue, the love of the neighbor. But the 
bad are governed by fear — fear of the law, fear of punish- 
ment. "We know it also from the teachings of the Holy 
Word ; for it speaks of the kingdom of God and the king- 
13 



290 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

dom of Satan ; of the kingdom of heaven and the king- 
dom of hell. And it assures us that God reigneth over 
all — the evil and the good : that is, He holds the hells in 
check by fear, and the heavens He leads by love. 

The commandments of the Word are the laws for the 
government of heaven and of hell, in both this world and 
the other. No human beings could exist without some light 
from the Word, received either by tradition, or otherwise, 
giving them some ideas of right and wrong, in some degree 
of light ; for the human understanding must have it, or 
man must cease to be. And were a tribe of our race to 
become so low, on earth, as to lose all truth, of every de- 
gree, they would become extinct. It is true that the men 
of evil hearts, both in this world and the other, pervert 
the truths of the Word, when applied to their own evils ; 
but they see their use, as applied to the evils of others, 
for the preservation of order and safety. Therefore, the 
hells of either world are governed and made tolerable, by 
the divine laws of truth and duty ; but with this differ- 
ence, — the heart here is masked ; and men sin under the 
hope of escaping the evil of punishment by deception. But 
tli ere the mask is thrown off, and the guilt of the trans- 
gressor is seen at once ; and the punishment is rigidly in- 
liicted. This is a necessity ; because, without it, exist- 
ence itself, in the hells, would be intolerable. 

Societies of free, rational beings, with nothing true and 
good but what is given them, must necessarily need a 
law, from their Creator, to govern their conduct. And 
for this good reason, laws have been given. And when 
those laws are broken, either in this world or the other, 
men, and not God, inflict the outward punishment ; 
while there is still the unhappiness of the soul within, 
resulting from the wicked state of the heart. All this 



HEAVEN AND HELL. 291 

light may be seen from the teachings of the Holy "Word, 
and a knowledge of human nature. 

Now, suppose all the people of the earth to be, in one 
moment, disembodied. They find themselves right where 
they are, but in the spiritual world, with spiritual bodies : 
their dispositions unchanged ; God the same kind Father, 
but no more seen by them, on their entrance there, than He 
is here. Now, what will they do ? Their eyes are spirit- 
ual, and the light of that world — the divine truth — strikes 
their understandings forcibly. They can read each other's 
thoughts and feelings. They will soon know what hearts 
are congenial and what are not. And they will separate 
into societies according to their states ; and establish laws 
and rules of conduct for the good of the community. And 
those laws, after a few experiments, will all be the laws 
of God : for they will find that they cannot safely live 
under any other. The good societies will want no other : 
and the bad, will find that they cannot endure life under any 
other. Thus, when evil persons come together, in the spir- 
itual world, each in the love of self and the love of domin- 
ion, they do, as bad men of intelligence would do in this 
world, if obliged to live in a community by themselves. 
Put, for instance, 10,000 bad men and women, of nearly 
equal abilities, on a solitary island which readily produces 
enough for all their physical wants ; and let them hold 
the island, in common, as their home, and which they 
cannot leave. Notwithstanding the blessings of their 
home, it will be all bedlam with them, at once, until they 
have established a government and rigidly enforced t- -.* 
laws. Men of corrupt hearts, and wise only in serpei 
wisdom, where they have no chance to take undue advan- 
tage without suffering the consequence, will establish 
and maintain wholesome laws, from selfish policy's sake. 



292 HEAVEN AND HELL. 

Such is the government of hell ; for human nature is the 
same, under the same circumstances, whether it be in this 
world or the other. And though their hearts may burn 
with anger, jealousy and malice toward each other, yet 
they will soon be tired of indulging their revenge, by 
wicked acts, from the sufferings of the consequences ; for 
all the penalties of transgression are there promptly in- 
flicted ; and spiritual bodies are very sensitive. But 
against men in the flesh, in leading them astray, by temp- 
tations and deceptions, they are united, and do not punish 
each other for these acts. It is only for evils done to one 
another, that they inflict punishment. 

Such is the character of heaven and hell. Heaven, a 
community of good men, filled with good principles ; and 
hell, a collection of bad men, filled with bad principles. 
God is equally good to all, giving to the heavens every- 
thing they enjoy ; and mercifully withholding the hells, 
through the fear of the law, from falling into more dire- 
ful sufferings and destructive torments ; so that they are 
not in what they themselves call misery, if they obey the 
laws. Yet the states of their selfish and revengeful hearts, 
when compared with those filled with love, gentleness, 
mercy and peace, are as hell to heaven, as darkness to 
light, as misery to happiness. And the Lord is now 
clearly opening the way by which we may escape the 
miseries of the one, and enjoy the happiness of the other. 
" If ye would enter into life keep the commandments," 
and seek the love of God and the neighbor : for " God is 
love. And he that loveth is born of God, and knoweth 
God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is 
love." 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

THE NEW BIETH. 
" Ye must be born again." — John in, f I. 

" Ye must be born again." Thus saitli the Lord to 
man. But what does He mean ? I hear it said, that He 
means that we must be regenerated. Yeiy true ; but 
what is that ? It is to give ourselves up to God, by faith, 
and thus be born of the Spirit. That is true ; but what is 
that ? It is to be made His children, by conversion, 
adoption and sanctiflcation. All true : but what is that ? 
It is to believe in the Lord, repent of our sins and be for- 
given. All these answers are true ; but a dense mystery 
still hangs over the subject, because they all fail to tell 
what these very things are in themselves. They do not 
give any distinct idea of what the new birth really is, 
or regeneration, or conversion, or faith, or justification, 
or pardon, or adoption, or sanctiflcation, or repentance ; 
and therefore, though the answers are all true, as far as 
they go, yet they are all incomplete, need explanation, 
and therefore fail to give the light needed ; and conse- 
quently, often, by a wrong view of terms, they involve 
the subject in much darkness. 

But through the spiritual light of the Word, the mys- 
tery that commonly beclouds all these terms disappears, 



294 THE NEW BIRTH. 

and a clear, harmonizing light beams through them all, 
blending its rajs in perfect symmetry and beauty. For, 
in that light, they all exhibit a plain, practical process of 
purification and development, pointing out rationally the 
true way of life, and convincing us that we must walk in 
it, or never experience the new birth. 

Now, the new birth is a subject which, at times, has 
greatly agitated the human family. If we cast our eyes 
back, but five years, at the history of New York, we find 
it agitated throughout its length and breadth, upon this 
vital subject. Persons of all ranks and conditions were 
assembling on week days, in crowds, at prayer meetings, 
with anxious hopes of being, thereby, born again. And 
thousands, per week, were reported in the common news- 
papers, to be converted to God, and born of the Spirit. 
But much mystery overshadowed the entire scene ; and 
many of its supposed converts now look back with wonder 
and ask what it all meant. And the spiritual light of the 
Word only can answer them. The occasion needed light. 
It needed knowledge commensurate with its zeal. It is 
good for men to feel that they are sinners, and to believe 
that they must be born again, or be lost to heaven ; and 
to pray that they may be regenerated. But, to really ob- 
tain the blessing, they must perceive something of what 
the things which they need are, in themselves ; and also 
of the process they must pass through, in order to obtain 
them. It is not a work in the dark. 

Now, the new birth is a matter of the highest possible 
moment to man. It is the great object of our existence. 
And it may well engage the attention of every human 
being when the great Jehovah says, " Ye mast he horn 
again" For what God says to us is, above all price, 
valuable. But what does He mean by " ye," when He 



THE NEW BIRTH. 295 

says, " Ye must be born again " ? He means the mind. 
The text has no reference whatever to the body, in either 
birth. Ye means the spiritual part, not the tabernacle 
we live in. 

The first birth of the mind is natural. It is the exter- 
nal mind that is then born. It is born into a knowledge 
of natural things ; and it learns them from without. All 
its affections and thoughts are exercised in this natural 
world, and upon natural relations and things. It has no 
love for anything higher. The only avenues to knowl- 
edge, for this external mind, are the five senses. And it 
is through them, as a means, that the natural mind is born 
or formed. This birth of the mind is necessary, before 
we can have any higher knowledge. " First that which 
is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual." There 
must be a natural vessel, as a receptacle of the spirit — a 
natural basis for the spiritual to rest upon. No matter 
how virtuous and correct the first birth of the mind may 
be, a new birth is, nevertheless, necessary, because we 
are designed for a higher mode of life. We must have 
thoughts and feelings for things higher than natural, 
earthly things ; and the mind must be born into them. 

Had man never fallen, the new birth would have been 
still necessary. The Bible commences by giving an ac- 
count of the new birth of man, before he had fallen. God 
had brought mankind into existence, and they had grown 
up to years of understanding, simple, good and happy, 
natural people ; the external mind was born only into 
natural knowledge. The first chapter of Genesis is a his- 
tory of man's new birth into spiritual things. But in our 
fallen state, the natural mind is selfish and depraved; 
which makes it necessary to be born again, in order to 
enjoy true happiness, even here. 



296 THE NEW BIRTH. 

The first birth of the mind is natural ; being born into 
a knowledge of natural things. The second birth is spir- 
itual ; being born into a knowledge of spiritual things — 
things of the soul, of God, of truth, of goodness, of heaven, 
of happiness ; and, by this new birth, are engendered and 
brought forth thoughts and affections for these higher 
things. And when this new birth is well advanced, these 
spiritual thoughts and affections for heavenly things will 
have the ascendency over the natural mind ; and will 
completely modify, change, govern, and infill with heav- 
enly love and truth, all the natural feelings and thoughts ; 
so that the whole mind will be new and heavenly. 

But what is this new birth, in itself; and how is it 
accomplished 1 Let us examine into it. There is a birth 
of the material body. That is first born an infant's body ; 
afterward, a child's ; next, a youth's ; and finally, a man's. 
During this process, there is gradually born into exist- 
ence the external or natural mind. But here we are 
asked, why we speak of birth as a gradual work ? We 
answer, because birth is a creation ; and all creations are 
gradual. Everything that is made is born into existence ; 
and gradually born. Is the mind of the man born when 
the body of the infant is brought into being ? What is 
birth ? We must understand terms, or we cannot profit 
by study. Birth is the production of something. ISTow, 
whether that something be one hour, or a hundred years 
in being produced, it is, nevertheless, a birth. The arrow, 
in Yirgil, is called the son of the bow ; this is because the 
bow gives birth to it when it is shot. This is a very 
quick birth. The tree gives birth to the apple ; but it is 
the whole season about it. Washington is called the 
father of his country ; which means that he gave birth to 
our freedom from foreign oppression ; but he was seven 



THE NEW BIRTH. 297 

years about it. A man at threescore and ten, gives birth 
to a diary of his life ; bnt he was seventy years in doing it. 
He dies at a hundred years of age and goes to heaven, 
and this mode of life has given birth to an angel ; but it 
was a whole century about it. The sun has been giving 
birth to light ever since it was placed in the heavens ; but 
that birth is not yet completed. The orator gives birth 
to his oration, the author to his book, and the artist to his 
picture. All birth is progressive. Every development 
of body or mind is birth. 

A few months give birth to the body of an infant ; twenty 
years more, to the body of a man. But, to the birth of a 
human mind, there is no end. It is capable of eternal de- 
velopment. But, to have that development orderly, heav- 
enly and happy, it must be born again. The first birth 
of the human mind, at this age of the world, is, in its 
tendencies, natural, selfish, licentious, deceitful and cruel. 
It is a birth into the love of self and the world. It needs 
no argument to prove this. Any person, with an eye 
half open to his own heart, and to the community around 
him, knows it. And he, to whom these bad adjectives do 
not apply, has tasted the sweets of the new birth. 

We said that the first birth of the mind is natural, 
selfish, licentious, deceitful and cruel. These tendencies 
it inherits ; and if it be not born again, it will go on de- 
veloping, and confirming itself in all these evils forever. 

The second birth is spiritual, benevolent, chaste, truth- 
ful and kind. Both of these births are progressive. They 
commence from germs, and are regularly born. How little 
does the infant of a day old know ! And how long it 
takes to develop and give birth to the natural mind, in 
the strength and energy of its faculties. 

Now, the natural mind, as we said above, is formed 
13* 



298 THE NEW BIRTH. 

by means of things from without, through the use of the 
senses. There is no mind when the body of the infant 
comes into the world. There is only the germ of a mind. 
But the infant begins to hear, see, feel, smell and taste 
things from without. And through these operations, 
thoughts and feelings begin to be conceived and born into 
action. Thus the natural mind begins to be born forth 
into actual life. And every new thing that the mind 
learns, loves and acts upon, gives a further birth and de- 
velopment to that mind. But as this natural mind is 
born through the means of things from without, by the 
use and gratification of the senses, this birth must of 
course be sensual and selfish, because it comes through 
the means of what the senses love ; and also because it in- 
herits morbid and depraved tendencies from parents. 
Therefore, the natural mind is born supremely into the 
love of self and the world. All its knowledge is of things 
of the world : and all its affections are for or against 
worldly things. 

This is now the first birth of all minds into this world. 
Such minds, therefore, will certainly quarrel for suprem- 
acy, in power and property, because each loves himself 
above all others. A society of such minds, from their 
very nature, cannot make a heaven. They must neces- 
sarily make a hell. Therefore, the Lord mercifully says 
to us, " Ye must be born again." 

Now the second birth is a birth from things within, or 
from the Lord ; and not through the senses from without, 
except by analogy or correspondence. It is an entirely 
new mind : a spiritual mind — a mind that looks upward 
to God, and not downward to nature. When it contem- 
plates nature, it looks through it, up to nature's God. It 
is a mind that dwells upon goodness and truth, virtue, 



THE NEW BIRTH. 299 

righteousness, and peace. This mind is formed within 
the natural mind ; and is called, in Scripture, the internal 
or spiritual man ; while the other mind is called, at the 
same time, the external or natural man. 

!Now, this spiritual mind is as gradually conceived 
and born as was the natural mind. First, the natural 
mind is progressively born and developed to years of 
understanding, with all its affections and proclivities natu- 
ral and worldly. True, while it has been taught religious 
things, and how to distinguish between natural right and 
wrong, the Lord has prepared within it some good 
ground, as the basis of a higher life ; but the natural 
mind neither knows nor cares much about these internal 
preparations for a spiritual mind and life, until its more 
matured, rational faculties become seriously exercised, by 
the light of divine truth. But when man, by that truth, 
becomes convinced that the natural, selfish, deceitful 
states of the mind of mankind are the real cause of all 
the crime, sin and suffering of our race, he becomes se- 
riously alarmed at the sad picture. And as he yields up 
his mind, in humble and solicitous contemplation, he be- 
comes rationally and feelingly certain that, without some 
change in the hearts and minds of men, there can never 
be any true peace or happiness for the race. With these 
stubborn facts before him, he falls into a state of serious 
trouble, sorrow and solicitude ; and he prayerfully desires, 
from his inmost soul, something better and more hopeful, 
for mankind. And here, in this humble and penitent 
condition, he conceives a desire for goodness and truth 
of heart, in himself and all others ; and he resolves, daily, 
to do all that the Lord commands, and to shun every vice 
as sin. And now as he follows out this resolution, in de- 
pendence upon the Lord, he begins to feel, in the con- 



300 THE NEW BIETH. 

science-ground of his soul, the warming influence of love 
for the truth. 

Here is the conception and commencement of the 
spiritual mind. The truth has passed from the under- 
standing into the good ground, which the Lord had pre- 
pared in the heart ; and here, in the spiritual region of 
the mind, goodness and truth have met together ; and, 
from their embrace, a new mind is beginning to be 
formed, of which the Lord is king. This new mind is 
spiritual, pure and heavenly. It is conceived of God, or 
of goodness and truth, and it is yet to be born of God. 

But how is it to be born ? This is the important point 
to be well understood. Here is the germ of the spiritual 
mind within the very centre of the natural mind. The 
natural mind, with all its selfishness and depravity, sur- 
rounds it. But how is the spiritual mind to be born ? 
Or what is the spiritual birth which this man is yet to ex- 
perience ? At an outward glance, it is simply this : 
the spiritual mind has yet to be born out into the natural 
mind, and, through that, manifest itself to the world. It 
must so completely infill, or fill out, the whole natural 
mind, that the natural mind will feel, think and act, 
under the power and influence of the spiritual mind. 
And the whole natural mind has to be thus renovated, 
changed, and cleansed, as the spiritual mind is born into 
it. But this can take place, so that the spiritual mind can 
get this perfect possession and control of the natural 
mind, only as the natural mind sees, repents of, and gives 
up its selfishness and depravity. And this is a long and 
laborious work, every step of which will require, of the 
natural mind, faith in the Lord, resistance of temptation, 
and obedience to the commandments, through prayer for 
aid from Almighty God. This process is the washing 



THE NEW BIRTH. 6(J1 

of regeneration, or £he cleansing from sin. And as the 
natural mind is cleansed, the spiritual is born within it. 
This is the Christian soldier's warfare against the kingdom 
of Satan. The commencement of this battle is the com- 
mencement of the new birth. This commencement is 
conversion. And just so far as the natural mind yields to 
the spiritual mind and gives up its selfishness, in obe- 
dience to God's commandments, so far there is a new 
birth. 2sow, just so far as there is a new birth, so far 
there is remission of sins or removal of evils. So that, at 
conversion, there is a new birth,, to a very small extent; 
and there is, also, remission of sins, or cleansing from 
evils, to the same extent. 

But the natural mind will often get angry, and de- 
ceive, and commit other sins, after the new birth has com- 
menced. And, so long as it does this, its sins are not all 
remitted or removed ; nor is the person fully born again. 
For " he that is born of God," the apostle says, " doth not 
commit sin ; for the seed abideth in him, and he cannot 
sin, because ..he is born of God." The idea here is, that 
when a person is really born of God, when he has given 
up all his sins, and the love of them, and has come to the 
sabbath of rest, he has no desire to sin ; because he gives 
himself constantly to God, in obedience. 

The new birth, then, springs from the creation of the 
elements of a new mind ; of new and heavenly materials, 
within the natural mind ; and then, through the gradual, 
cleansing of the natural mind from everything evil and 
false, the two minds become as one — one in will, one in 
thought, and one in action. When this work is all ac- 
complished, and our sins, or evil and selfish inclinations, 
are all removed, and the two minds are in harmony, the 
new birth is so far advanced that we can enter the heav- 



302 THE NEW BIRTH. 

enly society. But this will, by no means, be the end of 
that spiritual birth. "When the natural mind becomes 
cleansed from all its sins, so that it acts as one with the 
spiritual mind, and the man enters heaven, his spiritual 
birth — his new creation— has only become fairly com- 
menced. It has now but reached the glorious period in 
its progress, when it can be clearly and rapidly developed 
into more full and perfect states forever. 

ISTow do we clearly see the philosophy of this new 
birth, and the perfectly harmonious relation which this 
doctrine bears toward all the other doctrines of the 
Word, and their complete oneness of beauty and sym- 
metry, of law and order ? Do we see the exact coinci- 
dence between the spiritual conception and birth of 
the Lord up to his glorification, and those of man up to 
his regeneration ; so far as the finite can coincide with 
the infinite ? Do we see the perfect protection and action 
of the freedom of man, and the distinct preservation of his 
individual identity, throughout the whole process; so 
that when he comes into the regenerate state, he can freely 
and fully enjoy it, to his soul's delight ? Do we behold 
the complete correspondence between the assumed, exter- 
nal mind of the Lord, in the flesh, to be glorified, and the 
depraved, external mind of the man to be regenerated ? 
Do we perceive the beautiful similitude between the glori- 
fication of the one, and the regeneration of the other ? 
How the two external minds were, alike, free in the 
work ? and how they both yielded to the influence of the 
same Divine Spirit within, and were gradually cleansed, 
and brought into perfect unity and harmony with the in- 
ternal, or higher elements of their being ? Do we see, in 
both instances, the seed of the woman, or truth from 
goodness, bruising the serpent's head ; and thus doing the 



THE NEW BIRTH. 303 

great work which is to be carried on till the human race 
is restored to heavenly order ? Do we thus see how the 
Lord is to go on conquering and to conquer, until every 
evil be subdued ; and still, in all things, the perfect free- 
dom of man be preserved ? Do we see, philosophically, how 
the Lord gained this great power over the evils of that 
humanity, by first assuming our nature, and thus coming 
into contact with those evils, where He could meet them, 
and all the hosts of hell, on their own ground, and in their 
own kingdom ; and there effectually conquer them, by 
reaching the rational faculty of man ; and, by operating 
upon his judgment by the truth, incline him, in perfect 
freedom, to see his evils and to fight against them, in the 
power of the spirit of truth, in dependence upon the 
Lord ? Do we here see the great work of the atonement, 
which the Lord commenced in Himself, reconciling the 
assumed nature to the divine ; and then, continuing the 
work among men ? " God in Christ reconciling the world 
unto Himself?" 

"Whose heart, that feels the truth of this picture, does 
not glow with love and gratitude to that merciful Father 
who thus saves the world in freedom by coming, like a 
wise schoolmaster, down into our midst ; and here teach- 
ing us, practically, how to solve the problem of human 
nature — how to work out, understandingly, every appar- 
ently dark and intricate question of our spiritual being ; 
always presenting, with the theory, under every rule of 
life, a bright example, accurately worked out by His own 
wisdom, in a nature like ours ; and clearly laid down and 
recorded, in the great chart of divinity and humanity — 
the Holy "Word of Jehovah ? ! 

Do we, in this clear system of harmonious divinity, 
perceive the fogs of mystery rising and passing away from 



304 THE NEW BIRTH. 

every doctrine, and behold the pure light of the holy city 
— the Lamb of God — the spiritual truth — beaming, in 
blending beauty, through every part ? Do we see, in it 
all, the heavenly embrace of science and religion, of na- 
ture and revelation, of charity and faith, of love and obe- 
dience \ Then, indeed, do we behold, opening up to our 
souls, the true way of eternal life, in a manner so plain, 
and in a light so clear, that we cannot mistake it. And 
having this light, are we fully aware of the responsibility 
under which it lays us ? 

God, in these latter days, is truly beginning to make, 
more fully, His " ways known upon earth, His saving 
health among all nations." The two great antagonistic 
principles of humanity — good and evil, in their truth and 
falsity — are now standing forth, in a more conspicuous 
contrast than at any former age of the world's history. 
The reason of this is, because a more spiritual and interior 
light, from the Holy Word, is penetrating the mists of 
external appearances ; and right and wrong are begin- 
ning to be more clearly seen, standing face to face, in de- 
cided opposition. And as this spiritual light brings out 
more and more clearly to view the diversified features 
and the distinct qualities of the human heart, in its va- 
rious selfish and benevolent states ; wars and contests, 
mental and physical, of every character, will rage hotter 
and hotter. For the purer the light, the stronger will 
error oppose it ; the higher the good, the more violent the 
evil will be against it ; for the greater the contrast, the 
more bitter the opposition ; because the devil, or love of 
evil, is ever tenacious of his dominion, and never gives 
up till he knows he is vanquished. . 

But the prince of darkness must yield his sceptre to 
the King of kings and Lord of lords. His reign on earth 



THE NEW BIRTH. 305 

is limited. His days of dominion are numbered : for the 
time is promised when there shall be one Lord, one faith, 
one baptism ; and when all shall know the Lord, from the 
least to the greatest. 

But, to accomplish this, we must be born again. 
" That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit." " Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the king- 
dom of God." To be born of water is the first birth. It 
is to have the natural mind born of, and developed by, 
natural truth, to which water corresponds. To be born 
of the Spirit is the second birth. It is to have the spirit- 
ual mind born of, and developed by, spiritual truth. 

But since the natural mind has become depraved by 
the fall, it has falsified and adulterated its natural truths, 
so that, in the second birth, the natural truths have to be 
purified from the falses, and made clean vessels, for the 
reception of spiritual truths. The new birth, therefore, 
creates the internal mind and purifies the external ; so 
that the two minds are in union ; the external, bearing 
God's image, and the internal, His likeness ; and both 
possessing His spirit and life. To obtain this birth, is 
the first and highest object of our existence. The means 
are amply provided. But it can come only through the 
free and willing exercise of our own hearts and minds, in 
obedience to the divine ,Jaws: "If ye would enter into 
life, keep the commandments." " W<K eVery one that saith 
unto Me, Lord, Lord| shall /enter ^ into the kingdom of 
heaven ; but he that doeth the will ofyMy Father who is 
in heaven." 



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